1 Kings 4
4
1 Now king Solomon was reigning over all of Israel.
2 And these were the leaders that he had: Azariah, the son of Zadok, the priest;
3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, the scribes; Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, the keeper of records;
4 Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, over the army; and Zadok, and Abiathar, priests;
5 Azariah, the son of Nathan, over those who were assisting the king; Zabud, the son of Nathan, the priest, the friend of the king;
6 and Ahishar, first ruler of the house; and Adoniram, the son of Abda, over the tribute.
7 And Solomon had twelve commanders over all of Israel, who offered yearly provisions for the king and his house. For each was ministering the necessities, by each month of the year.
8 And these are their names: Benhur, on mount Ephraim;
9 Bendeker, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and in Beth-shemesh, and in Elon, and in Beth-hanan;
10 Benhesed, in Arubboth: his was Socoh and the entire land of Hepher;
11 Benabinadab, to whom was all of Naphath-Dor, who had Taphath, the daughter of Solomon, as wife;
12 Baana, the son of Ahilud, who was reigning in Taanach, and Megiddo, and all of Bethshean, which is beside Zarethan and below Jezreel, from Bethshean as far as Abelmeholah, opposite Jokmeam;
13 Bengeber, in Ramoth Gilead, who had the town of Jair, the son of Manasseh, in Gilead; the same was first in the entire region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls that had bronze bars;
14 Ahinadab, the son of Iddo, who was first in Mahanaim;
15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali, and he also had Basemath, the daughter of Solomon, in marriage;
16 Baana, the son of Hushai, in Asher and in Bealoth;
17 Jehoshaphat, the son of Paruah, in Issachar;
18 Shimei, the son of Ela, in Benjamin;
19 Geber, the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and of Og, king of Bashan, over all who were in that land.
20 Judah and Israel were innumerable, like the sand of the sea in multitude: eating and drinking, and rejoicing.
21 Now Solomon had, in his dominion, all the kingdoms, from the river to the land of the Philistines, even to the border of Egypt. And they offered gifts to him, and they served him all the days of his life.
22 And the provisions of Solomon, for each day, were thirty cor of fine wheat flour, and sixty cor of meal,
23 ten fattened oxen, and twenty oxen from the pastures, and one hundred rams, aside from the venison of stags, roe deer, and gazelles, and fattened poultry.
24 For he had obtained the entire region which was beyond the river, from Tiphsah as far as Gaza, and all the kings of those regions. And he had peace on every side all around.
25 And so, Judah and Israel were living without any fear, each one under his own vine and under his own fig tree, from Dan as far as Beersheba, during all the days of Solomon.
26 And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of chariot horses, and twelve thousand riding horses.
27 And the above-stated commanders of the king nourished these. And they also offered the necessities for the table of king Solomon, with immense diligence, each in his time.
28 Also, they brought barley and straw for the horses and beasts of burden, to the place where the king was, just as it was appointed to them.
29 And God gave wisdom to Solomon, and an exceedingly great prudence, and a spacious heart, like the sand which is on the shore of the sea.
30 And the wisdom of Solomon surpassed the wisdom of all the East, and of the Egyptians.
31 And he was wiser than all men: wiser than Ethan, the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And he was renowned in all the nations on every side.
32 Solomon also spoke three thousand parables. And his verses were one thousand and five.
33 And he discoursed about trees, from the cedar which is in Lebanon, to the hyssop which grows out from the wall. And he explained about beasts, and birds, and reptiles, and fish.
34 And they came from all the peoples in order to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who were hearing about his wisdom.
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1 Kings 4
4
Solomon’s Officers
1King Solomon ruled over all Israel. 2These are the names of his leading officers:
Azariah son of Zadok was the priest;
3Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha, recorded what happened in the courts;
Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud recorded the history of the people;
4Benaiah son of Jehoiada was commander of the army;
Zadok and Abiathar were priests;
5Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the district governors;
Zabud son of Nathan was a priest and adviser to the king;
6Ahishar was responsible for everything in the palace;
Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of the labor force.
7Solomon placed twelve governors over the districts of Israel, who gathered food from their districts for the king and his family. Each governor was responsible for bringing food to the king one month of each year. 8These are the names of the twelve governors:
Ben-Hur was governor of the mountain country of Ephraim.
9Ben-Deker was governor of Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Bethhanan.
10Ben-Hesed was governor of Arubboth, Socoh, and all the land of Hepher.
11Ben-Abinadab was governor of Naphoth Dor. (He was married to Taphath, Solomon’s daughter.)
12Baana son of Ahilud was governor of Taanach, Megiddo, and all of Beth Shan next to Zarethan. This was below Jezreel from Beth Shan to Abel Meholah across from Jokmeam.
13Ben-Geber was governor of Ramoth in Gilead. (He was governor of all the towns of Jair in Gilead. Jair was the son of Manasseh. Ben-Geber was also over the district of Argob in Bashan, which had sixty large, walled cities with bronze bars on their gates.)
14Ahinadab son of Iddo was governor of Mahanaim.
15Ahimaaz was governor of Naphtali. (He was married to Basemath, Solomon’s daughter.)
16Baana son of Hushai was governor of Asher and Aloth.
17Jehoshaphat son of Paruah was governor of Issachar.
18Shimei son of Ela was governor of Benjamin.
19Geber son of Uri was governor of Gilead. Gilead had been the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan. But Geber was the only governor over this district.
Solomon’s Kingdom
20There were as many people in Judah and Israel as grains of sand on the seashore. The people ate, drank, and were happy. 21Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These countries brought Solomon the payments he demanded, and they were under his control all his life.
22Solomon needed much food each day to feed himself and all the people who ate at his table: one hundred ninety-five bushels of fine flour, three hundred ninety bushels of grain, 23ten cows that were fed on good grain, twenty cows that were raised in the fields, one hundred sheep, three kinds of deer, and fattened birds.
24Solomon controlled all the countries west of the Euphrates River—the land from Tiphsah to Gaza. And he had peace on all sides of his kingdom. 25During Solomon’s life Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, also lived in peace; all of his people were able to sit under their own fig trees and grapevines.
26Solomon had four thousand stalls for his chariot horses and twelve thousand horses. 27Each month one of the district governors gave King Solomon all the food he needed—enough for every person who ate at the king’s table. The governors made sure he had everything he needed. 28They also brought enough barley and straw for Solomon’s chariot and work horses; each person brought this grain to the right place.
Solomon’s Wisdom
29God gave Solomon great wisdom so he could understand many things. His wisdom was as hard to measure as the grains of sand on the seashore. 30His wisdom was greater than any wisdom of the East, or any wisdom in Egypt. 31He was wiser than anyone on earth. He was even wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, as well as Heman, Calcol, and Darda—the three sons of Mahol. King Solomon became famous in all the surrounding countries. 32During his life he spoke three thousand wise sayings and also wrote one thousand five songs. 33He taught about many kinds of plants—everything from the great cedar trees of Lebanon to the weeds that grow out of the walls. He also taught about animals, birds, crawling things, and fish. 34People from all nations came to listen to King Solomon’s wisdom. The kings of all nations sent them to him, because they had heard of Solomon’s wisdom.
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.