1 Kings 4

Solomon’s Officials

1Now King Solomon was king over all Israel. 2These were his officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was 1the priest; 3Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha were scribes; 2Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the secretary; 4and 3Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army; and Zadok and 4Abiathar were priests; 5and Azariah the son of Nathan was over 5the deputies; and Zabud the son of Nathan, a priest, was the king’s confidant; 6and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the forced labor.

7Solomon had twelve deputies over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household; each deputy had to provide food for a month in the year. 8And these were their names: Ben-hur, in the 6hill country of Ephraim; 9Ben-deker in Makaz and 7Shaalbim, and 8Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan; 10Ben-hesed in Arubboth (9Socoh was his and all the land of 10Hepher); 11Ben-abinadab in all 11the 12hills of Dor (Taphath the daughter of Solomon was his wife); 12Baana the son of Ahilud in 13Taanach and Megiddo, and all 14Beth-shean which is beside 15Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to 16Abel-meholah as far as the other side of 17Jokmeam; 13Ben-geber in 18Ramoth-gilead (19the villages of Jair, the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead were his: 20the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars were his); 14Ahinadab the son of Iddo in 21Mahanaim; 1522Ahimaaz in Naphtali (he also married Basemath the daughter of Solomon); 16Baana the son of 23Hushai in Asher and 24Bealoth; 17Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah in Issachar; 1825Shimei the son of Ela in Benjamin; 19Geber the son of Uri in the land of Gilead, 26the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only deputy who was in the land.

Solomon’s Power, Wealth, and Wisdom

2027Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is on the 28seashore in abundance; they were eating, drinking, and rejoicing.

212930Now Solomon was ruling over all the kingdoms 31from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; 32they brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

22Solomon’s 33provision for one day was 34thirty kors of fine flour and 35sixty kors of meal, 23ten fat oxen, twenty 36pasture-fed oxen, and a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened geese. 24For he was ruling over everything 37west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah even to 38Gaza, 39over all the kings 40west of the River; and 41he had peace on all sides surrounding him. 2542So Judah and Israel lived securely, everyone under his vine and his fig tree, 43from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. 2644Solomon had 45forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. 27And those deputies provided food for King Solomon and all who came to King Solomon’s table, each in his month; they allowed nothing to be lacking. 28They also brought barley and straw for the war horses and 46baggage horses to the place where it was required, each deputy according to his duty.

29Now 47God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of 48mind, 49like the sand that is on the seashore. 30Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all 50the 51people of the east and 52all the wisdom of Egypt. 31For 53he was wiser than all other people, more than 54Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, 55Calcol, and 56Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his 57fame was known in all the surrounding nations. 3258He also told three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered 1,005. 33He told of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the wall; he told also of animals, birds, crawling things, and fish. 34People 59came from all the 60nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.