1 Kings 4
1 Solomon was the king who ruled all of Israel,
And king Solomon reigned over Israel.
2 and these were his most important officials: Zadok’s son Azariah was the priest.
And these [are] the princes which he had; Azarias son of Sadoc.
3 Shisha’s sons Elihoreph and Ahijah were the [official] secretaries. Ahilud’s son Jehoshaphat was the one who announced to the people the king’s decisions.
Eliaph, and Achia son of Seba, scribes; and Josaphat son of Achilud, recorder.
4 Benaiah was the commander of the army. Zadok and Abiathar were also priests.
And Banaeas son of Jodae over the host; and Sadoc and Abiathar [were] priests.
5 Nathan’s son Azariah was the administrator of the governors. Another of Nathan’s sons, Zabud, was a priest and the king’s chief advisor.
And Ornia the son of Nathan [was] over the officers; and Zabuth son of Nathan [was] the king's friend.
6 Ahishar supervised the servants who worked in the palace. Abda’s son Adoniram supervised the men who were forced to do work [for the government].
And Achisar was steward, and Eliac the [chief] steward; and Eliab the son of Saph [was] over the family: and Adoniram the son of Audon over the tribute.
7 Solomon appointed twelve men, one to govern [each of the regions] in Israel. They also were required to provide food for the king and all the others who lived and worked in the palace. Each man was required to provide from his own region the food for one month each year.
And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, to provide for the king and his household; each one's turn came to supply for a month in the year.
8 Their names were: Ben-Hur, for the hilly area of the tribe of Ephraim.
And these [were] their names: Been the son of Or in the mount of Ephraim, one.
9 Ben-Deker, for Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-Shemesh, and Elon-Bethhanan [cities];
The son of Dacar, in Makes, and in Salabin, and Baethsamys, and Elon as far as Bethanan, one.
10 Ben-Hesed, for Arubboth and Socoh [towns] and the area near Hepher [town];
The son of Esdi in Araboth; his [was] Socho, and all the land of Opher.
11 Ben-Abinadab, who was married to Solomon’s daughter Taphath, for all the Dor district;
All Nephthador [belonged to] the son of Aminadab, Tephath daughter of Solomon was his wife, one.
12 Ahilud’s son Baana, for Taanach and Megiddo [towns], and all the region near Zarethan [city], and from Beth-Shan [city] south of Jezreel as far as Abel-Meholah [town] and Jokmeam [city];
Bana son of Achiluth [had] Ithaanach, and Mageddo, and [his was] the whole house of San which was by Sesathan below Esrae, and from Bethsan as far as Sabelmaula, as far as Maeber Lucam, one.
13 Ben-Geber, for Ramoth [city] in [the] Gilead [region], and for the villages in Gilead that belonged to Jair, who was a descendant of Manasseh, and the Argob area in [the] Bashan [region]. There were 60 large towns in that region altogether, each town with a wall around it and bronze bars across the gates.
The son of Naber in Raboth Galaad, to him [fell] the lot of Ergab in Basan, sixty great cities with walls, and brazen bars, one.
14 Iddo’s son Ahinadab, for Mahanaim [city east of the Jordan River];
Achinadab son of Saddo, [had] Maanaim.
15 Ahimaaz, who had married Solomon’s daughter Basemath, for [the territory of the tribe of] Naphtali;
Achimaas [was] in Nephthalim, and he took Basemmath daughter of Solomon to wife, one.
16 Hushai’s son Baana, for [the territory of the tribe of] Asher and for Aloth [town];
Baana son of Chusi, in Aser and in Baaloth, one,
17 Paruah’s son Jehoshaphat, for [the territory of the tribe of] Issachar;
Josaphat son of Phuasud [was] in Issachar.
18 Ela’s son Shimei, for [the territory of the tribe of] Benjamin;
Semei son of Ela, in Benjamin.
19 Uri’s son Geber, for the Gilead region, the land that Sihon the king of the Amor people-group [formerly ruled], and the Bashan [area], which was the area that Og [formerly ruled]. [In addition to all those], Solomon appointed one governor for the [territory of the] tribe of Judah.
Gaber son of Adai in the land of Gad, [the land] of Seon king of Esebon, and of Og king of Basan, and one officer in the land of Juda.
20 There were as many people in Judah and Israel as there are grains of sand [HYP] on the seashore. They [had plenty to] eat and drink and they were happy.
And thus the officers provided king Solomon: and [they execute] every one in his month all the orders for the table of the king, they omit nothing.
21 Solomon’s kingdom extended from the Euphrates [River in the northeast] to the Philistia area [in the west] and to the border of Egypt [in the south]. The [conquered] people in those areas paid taxes and were under Solomon’s control for the rest of his life.
And they carried the barley and the straw for the horses and the chariots to the place where the king might be, each according to his charge.
22 [To feed the people in his palace and his guests] Solomon needed people to bring to him every day 150 bushels of fine flour and 300 bushels of wheat,
And these [were] the requisite supplies for Solomon: in one day thirty measures of fine flour, and sixty measures of fine pounded meal,
23 ten cattle that were kept in stalls/barns, 20 cattle that were kept in pastures, 100 sheep, and (deer and gazelles and roebucks/three kinds of deer), and poultry.
and ten choice calves, and twenty pastured oxen, and a hundred sheep, besides stags, and choice fatted does.
24 Solomon ruled over all the area west of the Euphrates [River], from Tiphsah [city in the northeast] to Gaza [city in the southwest]. He ruled over all the kings in that area. And there was peace between his [government] and the [governments of] nearby countries.
For he had dominion on this side the river, and he was at peace on all sides round about.
25 All during the years that Solomon ruled, the people of Judah and Israel lived safely. Each family had its own grapevines and fig trees.
26 Solomon had 4,000 stalls for the horses [that pulled] his chariots and 12,000 men who rode on horses (OR, in the chariots).
27 His twelve governors supplied the food that King Solomon needed for himself and for all those who ate in the palace. Each governor supplied food for one month each year. They provided everything [LIT] that Solomon required.
28 They also brought [stalks of] barley and wheat for the fast horses [that pulled the chariots] and for the [other work] horses. They brought it to the places where the horses were kept.
29 God enabled Solomon to be extremely wise and to have great insight/understanding. He understood about more things than the number of grains of sand on the seashore [HYP].
And the Lord gave understanding to Solomon, and very much wisdom, and enlargement of heart, as the sand on the seashore.
30 He was wiser than all the wise men in Arabia and Mesopotamia and all the wise men in Egypt.
And Solomon abounded greatly beyond the wisdom of all the ancients, and beyond all the wise men of Egypt.
31 Ethan from Ezrah and Heman and Calcol and Darda and the sons of Mahol were [considered to be] very wise, but Solomon was wiser than all of them. People in all the nearby countries heard about Solomon.
And he was wiser than all [other] men: and he was wiser than Gaethan the Zarite, and [than] Aenan, and [than] Chalcad and Darala the son of Mal.
32 He composed/wrote 3,000 (proverbs/wise sayings) and more than 1,000 songs.
And Solomon spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were five thousand.
33 He talked about various kinds of plants, from the [huge] cedar trees in Lebanon to the [tiny] hyssop plants that grow in cracks in walls. He also talked about wild animals and birds and reptiles and fish.
And he spoke of trees, from the cedar in Libanus even to the hyssop which comes out through the wall: he spoke also of cattle, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fishes.
34 People came from all over the world to hear the wise things that Solomon said. Many kings sent men to listen to him [and then return and tell them what Solomon said].
And all the nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and [ambassadors] from all the kings of the earth, as many as heard of his wisdom.
