World English Bible

Chapter 4

¹King Solomon was king over all Israel. ²These were the princes whom he had: Azariah the son of Zadok, the priest; ³Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder; ⁴and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests; ⁵and Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; and Zabud the son of Nathan was chief minister, and the king’s friend; ⁶and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to forced labor. ⁷Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household: each man had to make provision for a month in the year. ⁸These are their names: Ben Hur, in the hill country of Ephraim; ⁹Ben Deker, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Beth Shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan; ¹⁰Ben Hesed, in Arubboth (to him pertained Socoh, and all the land of Hepher); ¹¹Ben Abinadab, in all the height of Dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as wife); ¹²Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth Shean which is beside Zarethan, beneath Jezreel, from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah, as far as beyond Jokmeam; ¹³Ben Geber, in Ramoth Gilead (to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; even to him pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and brazen bars); ¹⁴Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; ¹⁵Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon as wife); ¹⁶Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; ¹⁷Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; ¹⁸Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; ¹⁹Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer who was in the land. ²⁰Judah and Israel were many as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry. ²¹Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt: they brought tribute, and served Solomon all the days of his life. ²²Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and sixty measures of meal, ²³ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and one hundred sheep, besides harts, and gazelles, and roebucks, and fattened fowl. ²⁴For he had dominion over all the region on this side the River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings on this side the River: and he had peace on all sides round about him. ²⁵Judah and Israel lived safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. ²⁶Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. ²⁷Those officers provided food for king Solomon, and for all who came to king Solomon’s table, every man in his month; they let nothing be lacking. ²⁸Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds brought they to the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge. ²⁹God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and very great understanding, even as the sand that is on the seashore. ³⁰Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all the nations round about. ³²He spoke three thousand proverbs; and his songs were one thousand five. ³³He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, and of birds, and of creeping things, and of fish. ³⁴There came of all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.