1 Kings 4

King Solomon ruled over all Israel. These were his officials: Azariah son of Zadok was the priest; Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha, were secretaries; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder; Benaiah son of Jehoiada commanded the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; Azariah son of Nathan supervised the district governors; Zabud son of Nathan was a priest and the king’s friend; Ahishar managed the palace; and Adoniram son of Abda supervised the forced labor. Solomon had twelve district governors over all Israel. They supplied food for the king and his household, each responsible for providing it for one month of the year. These were their names: Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim; Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan; Ben-hesed, in Arubboth; Socoh and all the land of Hepher were under him; Ben-abinadab, in all the region of Dor; Taphath, Solomon’s daughter, was his wife; Baana son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth-shean, which is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah and beyond Jokmeam; Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead; under him were the villages of Jair son of Manasseh in Gilead, and the region of Argob in Bashan, sixty large cities with walls and bronze bars; Ahinadab son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; Ahimaaz, in Naphtali; he too had married a daughter of Solomon, Basemath; Baana son of Hushai, in Asher and Aloth; Jehoshaphat son of Paruah, in Issachar; Shimei son of Ela, in Benjamin; Geber son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the land of Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan. There was one governor in that land. Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea. They ate, drank, and rejoiced. Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines and the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon throughout his life. Solomon’s daily provisions were about 150 bushels of fine flour and 300 bushels of meal, ten fattened cattle, twenty pasture-fed cattle, and a hundred sheep and goats, besides deer, gazelles, roe deer, and fattened birds. For he ruled over all the region west of the Euphrates, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and over all the kings west of the river. He had peace on every side. Judah and Israel lived in safety, each under his own vine and fig tree, from Dan to Beersheba, throughout Solomon’s days. Solomon had forty thousand stalls for his chariot horses and twelve thousand horsemen. These governors supplied food for King Solomon and all who came to King Solomon’s table, each in his own month. They let nothing be lacking. They also brought barley and straw for the horses and steeds wherever it was needed, each according to his assignment. God gave Solomon very great wisdom and understanding, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than anyone else: wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. His fame spread to all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He spoke about trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing out of the wall. He also spoke about animals, birds, creeping creatures, and fish. People from all nations came to hear Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

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