I Kings 4

¹`Forsothe kyng Salomon was regnynge on al Israel.

²And these weren the princes which he hadde; Azarie, sone of Sadoch, preest;

³Helioreb, and Haia, sones of Sila, `weren scryueyns; Josophat, sone of Achilud, was chaunseler;

⁴Banaie, sone of Joiada, was on the oost; forsothe Sadoch and Abiathar weren preestis;

⁵Azarie, sone of Nathan, was on hem that stoden niy the kyng; Zabul, the sone of Nathan, was preest, `that is, greet and worschipful, a freend of the kyng;

⁶and Ahiasar was stiward of the hows; and Adonyram, sone of Adda, was on the tributis.

⁷Forsothe Salomon hadde twelue `prefectis, ether cheef minystrys, on al Israel, that yauen lijflode to the kyng, and to his hows; sotheli bi ech monethe bi it silf in the yeer, ech prefect bi hym silf mynystride necessaries.

⁸And these ben the names of hem; Benhur, in the hil of Effraym;

⁹Bendechar, in Macces, and in Salebbym, and in Bethsames, and in Helon, and in Bethanan;

¹⁰Beneseth, in Araboth; forsothe Socco, and al the lond of Epher was his;

¹¹Benabidanab, whos was al Neptad, hadde Dortaphaed, `Solomons douyter, to wijf.

¹²Bena, sone of Achilud, gouernyde Thaneth, and Mageddo, and al Bethsan, which is bisidis Sarthana, vndur Jezrael, fro Bethsan `til to Abelmeula, euene ayens Zelmaan.

¹³Bengaber in Ramoth of Galaad hadde Anothiair, of the sone of Manasses, in Galaad; he was souereyn in al the cuntrey of Argob, which is in Basan, to sixti greet citees and wallid, that hadden brasun lockis.

¹⁴Achymadab, sone of Addo, was souereyn in Manaym;

¹⁵Achymaas was in Neptalym, but also he hadde Bachsemath, douyter of Salomon, in wedloc;

¹⁶Banaa, sone of Husy, was in Aser, and in Balod;

¹⁷Josephat, sone of Pharue, was in Ysachar; Semey, sone of Hela, was in Beniamyn;

¹⁸Gaber,

¹⁹sone of Sury, was in the lond of Galaad, and in the lond of Seon, kyng of Amorrey, and of Og, kyng of Basan, on alle thingis, that weren in that lond.

²⁰Juda and Israel weren vnnoumbrable, as the soond of the see in multitude, etynge, and drynkynge, and beynge glad.

²¹Forsothe Solomon was in his lordschip, and hadde alle rewmes, as fro the flood of the lond of Filisteis `til to the laste part of Egipt, of men offrynge yiftis to hym, and seruynge to hym, in alle the daies of his lijf.

²²Forsothe the mete of Salomon was bi ech day, thritti chorus of clene flour of whete, and sixti chorus of mele,

²³ten fatte oxis, and twenti oxis of lesewe, and an hundrid wetheris, outakun huntyng of hertys, of geet, and of buglis, and of briddis maad fat.

²⁴For he helde al the cuntrei that was biyende the flood, as fro Caphsa `til to Gasa, and alle the kyngis of tho cuntreis; and he hadde pees bi ech part in cumpas.

²⁵And Juda and Israel dwelliden withouten ony drede, ech man vndur his vyne, and vndur his fige tree, fro Dan `til to Bersabe, in alle the daies of Salomon.

²⁶And Salomon hadde fourty thousynd cratchis of horsis for charis, and twelue thousynde of roode horsis; and the forseid prefectis nurshiden tho horsis.

²⁷But also with greet bisynesse thei yauen necessaries to the boord of kyng Salomon in her tyme;

²⁸also thei brouyten barli, and forage of horsis and werk beestis, in to the place where the king was, `bi ordenaunce to hem.

²⁹Also God yaf to Salomon wisdom, and prudence ful myche, and largenesse of herte, as the soond which is in the brenke of the see.

³⁰And the wisdom of Solomon passide the wisdom of alle eest men, and Egipcians;

³¹and he was wisere than alle men; he was wisere than Ethan Esraite, and than Eman, and than Cacal, and than Dorda, the sones of Maol; and he was named among alle folkis bi cumpas.

³²And Salomon spak thre thousynde parablis, and hise songis weren fyue thousynde;

³³and he disputide of trees fro a cedre which is in the Lyban, `til to the ysope that goith out of the wal; he disputide of werk beestis, and briddis, and crepynge beestis, and fischis.

³⁴And thei camen fro alle puplis to here the wisdom of Salomon, and fro alle kyngis of erthe, that herden his wisdom.

I Kings 4

¹So king Solomon was king over all Israel.

²And these were the princes which he had; Azariah the son of Zadok the priest,

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

⁴And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests:

⁵And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers: and Zabud the son of Nathan was principal officer, and the king’s friend:

⁶And Ahishar was over the household: and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the tribute.

⁷And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, which provided victuals for the king and his household: each man his month in a year made provision.

⁸And these are their names: The son of Hur, in mount Ephraim:

⁹The son of Dekar, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Beth–shemesh, and Elon–beth–hanan:

¹⁰The son of Hesed, in Aruboth; to him pertained Sochoh, and all the land of Hepher:

¹¹The son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor; which had Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife:

¹²Baana the son of Ahilud; to him pertained Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth–shean, which is by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Beth–shean to Abel–meholah, even unto the place that is beyond Jokneam:

¹³The son of Geber, in Ramoth–gilead; to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; to him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brasen bars:

¹⁴Ahinadab the son of Iddo had Mahanaim:

¹⁵Ahimaaz was in Naphtali; he also took Basmath the daughter of Solomon to wife:

¹⁶Baanah the son of Hushai was in Asher and in Aloth:

¹⁷Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar:

¹⁸Shimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin:

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

²¹And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life.

²²And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal,

²³Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and fallowdeer, and fatted fowl.

²⁴For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him.

²⁵And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer–sheba, all the days of Solomon.

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

²⁷And those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon’s table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing.

²⁸Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.

²⁹And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.

³⁰And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.

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

³²And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.

³³And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.

³⁴And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.