Now King Solomon
was king
over
all
Israel
.
These were his officials
: Azariah
the son
of Zadok
was athe priest
;
Elihoreph and Ahijah
, the sons
of Shisha
were secretaries
; aJehoshaphat
the son
of Ahilud
was the recorder
;
and aBenaiah the son
of Jehoiada
was over
the army
; and Zadok
and bAbiathar
were priests
;
and Azariah the son
of Nathan
was over
athe deputies
; and Zabud
the son
of Nathan
, a priest
, was the king's
friend
;
and Ahishar was over
the household
; and Adoniram
the son
of Abda
was over
the men
subject to forced
labor
.
Solomon had twelve
deputies
over
all
Israel
, who 1provided
for the king
and his household
; each
man had
to 2provide
for a month
in the year
.
These are their names
: Ben-hur
, in the ahill
country
of Ephraim
;
Ben-deker in Makaz
and aShaalbim
and bBeth-shemesh
and Elonbeth-hanan
;
Ben-hesed, in Arubboth
( aSocoh
was his and all
the land
of bHepher
);
Ben-abinadab, in all
1the aheight
of Dor
(Taphath
the daughter
of Solomon
was his wife
);
Baana the son
of Ahilud
, in aTaanach
and Megiddo
, and all
bBeth-shean
which
is beside
cZarethan
below
Jezreel
, from Beth-shean
to dAbel-meholah
as far
as the other
side
of eJokmeam
;
Ben-geber, in aRamoth-gilead
( bthe towns
of Jair
, the son
of Manasseh
, which
are in Gilead
were his: cthe region
of Argob
, which
is in Bashan
, sixty
great
cities
with walls
and bronze
bars
were his);
Ahinadab the son
of Iddo
, in aMahanaim
;
aAhimaaz, in Naphtali
(he also
married
Basemath
the daughter
of Solomon
);
Baana the son
of aHushai
, in Asher
and 1Bealoth
;
Jehoshaphat the son
of Paruah
, in Issachar
;
aShimei the son
of Ela
, in Benjamin
;
Geber the son
of Uri
, in the land
of Gilead
, athe country
of Sihon
king
of the Amorites
and of Og
king
of Bashan
; and he was the only
deputy
who
was in the land
.
aJudah and Israel
were as numerous
as the sand
that is on the 1seashore
in abundance
; they were eating
and drinking
and rejoicing
.
1 aNow Solomon ruled
over all
the kingdoms
bfrom the 2River
to the land
of the Philistines
and to the border
of Egypt
; cthey brought
tribute
and served
Solomon
all
the days
of his life
.
Solomon's 1provision
for one
day
was thirty
2kors
of fine
flour
and sixty
2kors
of meal
,
ten fat
oxen
, twenty
1pasture-fed
oxen
, a hundred
sheep
besides
deer
, gazelles
, roebucks
, and fattened
fowl
.
For he had dominion
over everything
1west
of the 2River
, from Tiphsah
even to aGaza
, bover all
the kings
1west
of the 2River
; and che had
peace
on all
sides
around
about
him.
aSo Judah and Israel
lived
in safety
, every
man
under
his vine
and his fig
tree
, bfrom Dan
even to Beersheba
, all
the days
of Solomon
.
aSolomon had 140,000
stalls
of horses
for his chariots
, and 12,000
horsemen
.
Those deputies
1provided
for King
Solomon
and all
who came
to King
Solomon's
table
, each
in his month
; they left
nothing
lacking
.
They also brought barley
and straw
for the horses
and aswift
steeds
to the place
where
it should be, each
according to his charge
.
Now aGod gave
Solomon
wisdom
and very
great
discernment
and breadth
of 1mind
, blike the sand
that is on the seashore
.
Solomon's wisdom
surpassed
the wisdom
of all
athe sons
of the east
and ball
the wisdom
of Egypt
.
For ahe was wiser than
all
men
, than
bEthan
the Ezrahite
, Heman
, cCalcol
and 1Darda
, the sons
of Mahol
; and his 2fame
was known in all
the surrounding
nations
.
aHe also spoke 3,000
proverbs
, and his songs
were 1,005
.
He spoke of trees
, from the cedar
that is in Lebanon
even to the hyssop
that grows
on the wall
; he spoke
also of animals
and birds
and creeping
things
and fish
.
1Men acame from all
peoples
to hear
the wisdom
of Solomon
, from all
the kings
of the earth
who
had heard
of his wisdom
.