1 Kings 4:4-34 ▼

4 and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, over the army; and Zadok and Abiathar, the priests;

5 and Azariah son of Nathan, over the officers; and Zabud son of Nathan, a priest, friend of the king;

6 and Ahishar, over the house; and Adoniram son of Abda, over the forced labor.

7 And had Solomon twelve governors over all Israel, and they provided food for the king and his house—one month of the year was upon each one for provision.

8 And these are their names: Ben-hur in the hill country of Ephraim;

9 Ben-deker in Makaz, and Shaalbim, and Beth-Shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan;

10 Ben-hesed in Arubboth (to him was Sochoh and all the land of Hepher);

11 Ben-abinadab in all Naphath-dor (Taphath the daughter of Solomon was unto him as wife);

12 Baana son of Ahilud in Taanach and Megiddo, and in all Beth-shean, which is beside Zaretan beneath Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, to beyond Jokmeam;

13 Ben-geber in Ramoth-gilead (unto him were the towns of Jair son of Manasseh that were in Gilead; unto him was the region of Argob that is in Bashan, sixty large cities with walls and bronze bars);

14 Ahinadab son of Iddo in Mahanaim;

15 Ahimaaz in Naphtali (he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon as wife);

16 Baanah son of Hushai in Asher and in Aloth;

17 Jehoshaphat son of Paruah in Issachar;

18 Shimei son of Ela in Benjamin;

19 Geber son of Uri in the land of Gilead, the land of Sihon king of the Amorite and of Og king of Bashan. There was also one governor in the land of Judah.

20 Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and rejoicing.

21 And Solomon was reigning over all kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

22 And the provision of Solomon for one day was thirty cors of fine flour, and sixty cors of meal,

23 ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen from the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides deer, and gazelles, and roebucks, and fattened fowl.

24 For he had dominion over all on this side of the River, from Tiphsah and to Gaza, over all the kings on this side of the River. And was unto him peace on all his sides all around.

25 And Judah and Israel dwelt in safety, each man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan and to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

26 And Solomon had four thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horses.

27 And these governors provided food for King Solomon and for all who came to the table of King Solomon, each man in his month. Nothing was lacking in their supply.

28 And the barley and the straw for the horses and the steeds they brought to the place where it should be there, each man according to his charge.

29 And God gave wisdom to Solomon, and understanding exceedingly great, and breadth of heart, like the sand that is on the shore of the sea.

30 And the wisdom of Solomon was greater than the wisdom of all of the sons of the East, and all the wisdom of Egypt.

31 For 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 surrounding nations.

32 And He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were a thousand and five.

33 And he spoke of trees, from the cedar of Lebanon and to the hyssop that comes out of the wall. And he spoke of the animals, and of the birds, and of the creeping things, and of the fish.

34 And men came from all the nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.