Solomon's Officials, Prosperity and Wisdom

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;

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

5Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was chief minister, the king’s friend;

6Ahishar 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, in Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan;

10Ben Hesed, in Arubboth (Socoh and all the land of Hepher belonged to him);

11Ben Abinadab, in all the height of Dor (he had Taphath, Solomon’s daughter, 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 (the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, belonged to him; and the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars, belonged to him);

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 numerous 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 cors of fine flour, sixty measures of meal,

23ten head of fat cattle, twenty head of cattle out of the pastures, and one hundred sheep, in addition to deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl.

24For he had dominion over all on this side of the River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings on this side of the River; and he had peace on all sides around 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.

28They also brought barley and straw for the horses and swift steeds to the place where the officers were, each man according to his duty.

29God gave Solomon abundant wisdom, understanding, and breadth of mind like 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—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the nations all around.

32He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered one thousand five.

33He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows out of the wall; he also spoke of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish.

34People of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, sent by all kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

14Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen. He had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen that he placed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

15The king made silver and gold to be as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars to be as common as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland.

16The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt and from Kue. The king’s merchants purchased them from Kue.

17They imported from Egypt then exported a chariot for six hundred pieces of silver and a horse for one hundred fifty. They also exported them to the Hittite kings and the Syrian kings.