I Kings 4

¹Now Solomon was king over all Israel.

²And these were his chief men: Azariah, the son of Zadok, was the priest;

³Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were scribes; Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was the recorder;

⁴Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was head of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

⁵Azariah, the son of Nathan, was over those in authority in the different divisions of the country; Zabud, the son of Nathan, was priest and the king's friend;

⁶Ahishar was controller of the king's house; Adoniram, the son of Abda, was overseer of the forced work.

⁷And Solomon put twelve overseers over all Israel, to be responsible for the stores needed for the king and those of his house; every man was responsible for one month in the year.

⁸And these are their names: ... the son of Hur in the hill country of Ephraim;

⁹... the son of Deker in Makaz and Shaalbim and Beth-shemesh and Elonbeth-hanan;

¹⁰... the son of Hesed in Arubboth; Socoh and all the land of Hepher were under his control;

¹¹... the son of Abinadab in all Naphath-dor; his wife was Taphath, the daughter of Solomon.

¹²Baana, the son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean which is by the side of Zarethan, under Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the far side of Jokmeam;

¹³... the son of Geber in Ramoth-gilead; he had the towns of Jair, the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and the country of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great towns with walls and locks of brass.

¹⁴Ahinadab, the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;

¹⁵Ahimaaz in Naphtali; he took Basemath, the daughter of Solomon, as his wife;

¹⁶Baana, the son of Hushai, in Asher and Aloth;

¹⁷Jehoshaphat, the son of Paruah, in Issachar;

¹⁸Shimei, the son of Ela, in Benjamin;

¹⁹Geber, the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan; and one overseer had authority over all the overseers who were in the land.

²⁰Judah and Israel were as great in number as the sand by the seaside, and they took their food and drink with joy in their hearts.

²¹And Solomon was ruler over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the edge of Egypt; men gave him offerings and were his servants all the days of his life.

²²And the amount of Solomon's food for one day was thirty measures of crushed grain and sixty measures of meal;

²³Ten fat oxen and twenty oxen from the fields, and a hundred sheep, in addition to harts and gazelles and roes and fat fowls.

²⁴For he had authority over all the country on this side of the River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings on this side of the River; and he had peace round him on every side.

²⁵So Judah and Israel were living safely, every man under his vine and his fig-tree, from Dan as far as Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.

²⁶And Solomon had four thousand boxed-off spaces for horses for his carriages, and twelve thousand horsemen.

²⁷And those overseers, every man in his month, saw that food was produced for Solomon and all his guests, they took care that nothing was overlooked.

²⁸And they took grain and dry grass for the horses and the carriage-horses, to the right place, every man as he was ordered.

²⁹And God gave Solomon a great store of wisdom and good sense, and a mind of wide range, as wide as the sand by the seaside.

³⁰And Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt.

³¹For he was wiser than all men, even than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman and Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and he had a great name among all the nations round about.

³²He was the maker of three thousand wise sayings, and of songs to the number of a thousand and five.

³³He made sayings about all plants, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop hanging on the wall; and about all beasts and birds and fishes and the small things of the earth.

³⁴People came from every nation to give ear to the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had word of his wisdom.

I Kings 4

¹King Solomon was king over all Israel.

²These were the princes whom he had: Azariah the son of Zadok, the priest;

³Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder;

⁴and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

⁵and Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; and Zabud the son of Nathan was chief minister, the king's friend;

⁶and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to forced labor.

⁷Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household: each man had to make provision for a month in the year.

⁸These are their names: Ben Hur, in the hill country of Ephraim;

⁹Ben Deker, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Beth Shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan;

¹⁰Ben Hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh, and all the land of Hepher);

¹¹Ben Abinadab, in all the height of Dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as wife);

¹²Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth Shean which is beside Zarethan, beneath Jezreel, from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah, as far as beyond Jokmeam;

¹³Ben Geber, in Ramoth Gilead (to him belonged the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; to him belonged the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars);

¹⁴Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;

¹⁵Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon as wife);

¹⁶Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth;

¹⁷Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar;

¹⁸Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin;

¹⁹Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer who was in the land.

²⁰Judah and Israel were many as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry.

²¹Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt: they brought tribute, and served Solomon all the days of his life.

²²Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and sixty measures of meal,

²³ten head of fat cattle, and twenty head of cattle out of the pastures, and one hundred sheep, besides harts, and gazelles, and roebucks, and fattened fowl.

²⁴For he had dominion over all on this side the River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings on this side the River: and he had peace on all sides around him.

²⁵Judah and Israel lived safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

²⁶Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.

²⁷Those officers provided food for king Solomon, and for all who came to king Solomon's table, every man in his month; they let nothing be lacking.

²⁸Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds brought they to the place where the officers were, every man according to his duty.

²⁹God gave Solomon wisdom and exceptional insight, and very great understanding, even as the sand that is on the seashore.

³⁰Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt.

³¹For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all the nations all around.

³²He spoke three thousand proverbs; and his songs were one thousand five.

³³He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, and of birds, and of creeping things, and of fish.

³⁴There came of all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.