1 KingsChapter 4

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¹So King Solomon ruled over Israel. ²These were his chief officials: Azariah son of Zadok was the priest. ³Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were secretaries. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud kept the royal records. ⁴Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of the army. Zadok and Abiathar were priests. ⁵Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the governors. Zabud son of Nathan was a priest and an adviser to the king. ⁶Ahishar was in charge of the palace. And Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor. ⁷Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel. They supplied food for the king and his household. Each one supplied the food for one month of the year. ⁸These were their names: Ben-hur was over the hill country of Ephraim. ⁹Ben-deker was over Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan. ¹⁰Ben-hesed was over Arubboth. Socoh and all the land of Hepher were his too. ¹¹Ben-abinadab was over Naphath-dor. He was married to Taphath, a daughter of Solomon. ¹²Baana son of Ahilud was over Taanach and Megiddo. He was also over all of Beth-shean, next to Zarethan below Jezreel. His land went from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah and on past Jokmeam. ¹³Ben-geber was over Ramoth-gilead. The villages of Jair son of Manasseh in Gilead were his. So was the area of Argob in Bashan. It had sixty large cities with walls and bronze bars on their gates. ¹⁴Ahinadab son of Iddo was over Mahanaim. ¹⁵Ahimaaz was over Naphtali. He had married Basemath, a daughter of Solomon. ¹⁶Baana son of Hushai was over Asher and Aloth. ¹⁷Jehoshaphat son of Paruah was over Issachar. ¹⁸Shimei son of Ela was over Benjamin. ¹⁹Geber son of Uri was over the land of Gilead. This included the lands of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. There was also one governor over the land of Judah. ²⁰There were as many people in Judah and Israel as there are grains of sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. ²¹Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines. His rule went as far as the border of Egypt. These kingdoms brought him payments and served him all his life. ²²Each day Solomon's palace needed about 185 bushels of fine flour and about 375 bushels of meal.a ²³It also needed ten fat oxen, twenty oxen from the pasture, and a hundred sheep. There were also deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened birds. ²⁴For Solomon ruled over all the land west of the Euphrates River. He ruled all the kingdoms from Tiphsah to Gaza. And he had peace on every side. ²⁵As long as Solomon lived, Judah and Israel lived safely. From Dan to Beersheba, each man sat under his own grapevine and his own fig tree. ²⁶Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses. He had 12,000 horses. ²⁷Each governor took his turn and supplied food for one month. They fed King Solomon and everyone who ate at his table. They made sure nothing was missing. ²⁸Each one also brought his share of barley and straw. They brought it to the right place for the chariot horses and the other horses. ²⁹God gave Solomon wisdom and very deep insight. His understanding had no limit. It was as large as the sand on the seashore. ³⁰Solomon was wiser than all the wise men of the East. He was wiser than all the wise men of Egypt. ³¹He was wiser than anyone else. He was wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite. He was wiser than Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And he became famous in all the nations around him. ³²Solomon wrote three thousand proverbs. He also wrote one thousand and five songs. ³³He talked about trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop plant that grows out of walls. He also taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. ³⁴People came from every nation to listen to Solomon's wisdom. All the kings of the earth had heard about his wisdom, and they sent them.