1 Kings 4
Solomon's Officials
1Solomon was king of all Israel, 2and these were his high officials:
The priest: Azariah son of Zadok
3The court secretaries: Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha
In charge of the records: Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud
4Commander of the army: Benaiah son of Jehoiada
Priests: Zadok and Abiathar
5Chief of the district governors: Azariah son of Nathan
Royal adviser: the priest Zabud son of Nathan
6In charge of the palace servants: Ahishar
In charge of the forced labour: Adoniram son of Abda.
7Solomon appointed twelve men as district governors in Israel. They were to provide food from their districts for the king and his household, each man being responsible for one month out of the year. 8The following are the names of these twelve officers and the districts they were in charge of:
Benhur: the hill country of Ephraim
9Bendeker: the cities of Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, Elon, and Beth Hanan
10Benhesed: the cities of Arubboth and Socoh and all the territory of Hepher
11Benabinadab, who was married to Solomon's daughter Taphath: the whole region of Dor
12Baana son of Ahilud: the cities of Taanach, Megiddo, and all the region near Beth Shan, near the town of Zarethan, south of the town of Jezreel, as far as the city of Abel Meholah and the city of Jokmeam
13Bengeber: the city of Ramoth in Gilead, and the villages in Gilead belonging to the clan of Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, and the region of Argob in Bashan, sixty large towns in all, fortified with walls and with bronze bars on the gates
14Ahinadab son of Iddo: the district of Mahanaim
15Ahimaaz, who was married to Basemath, another of Solomon's daughters: the territory of Naphtali
16Baana son of Hushai: the region of Asher and the town of Bealoth
17Jehoshaphat son of Paruah: the territory of Issachar
18Shimei son of Ela: the territory of Benjamin
19Geber son of Uri: the region of Gilead, which had been ruled by King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan.
Besides these twelve, there was one governor over the whole land.
Solomon's Prosperous Reign
20The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore; they ate and drank, and were happy. 21Solomon's kingdom included all the nations from the River Euphrates to Philistia and the Egyptian border. They paid him taxes and were subject to him all his life.
22The supplies Solomon needed each day were 5,000 litres of fine flour and 10,000 litres of meal; 23ten stall-fed cattle, twenty pasture-fed cattle, and a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and poultry.
24Solomon ruled over all the land west of the River Euphrates, from Tiphsah on the Euphrates as far west as the city of Gaza. All the kings west of the Euphrates were subject to him, and he was at peace with all the neighbouring countries. 25As long as he lived, the people throughout Judah and Israel lived in safety, each family with its own grapevines and fig trees.
26Solomon had 40,000 stalls for his chariot horses and 12,000 cavalry horses. 27His twelve governors, each one in the month assigned to him, supplied the food King Solomon needed for himself and for all who ate in the palace; they always supplied everything needed. 28Each governor also supplied his share of barley and straw, where it was needed, for the chariot horses and the draught animals.
29God gave Solomon unusual wisdom and insight, and knowledge too great to be measured. 30Solomon was wiser than the wise men of the East or the wise men of Egypt. 31He was the wisest of all men: wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame spread throughout all the neighbouring countries. 32He composed 3,000 proverbs and more than a thousand songs. 33He spoke of trees and plants, from the Lebanon cedars to the hyssop that grows on walls; he talked about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. 34Kings all over the world heard of his wisdom and sent people to listen to him.
Good News Translation® with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Anglicisation © The British and Foreign Bible Society 1976, 1994, 2004
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