1 Kings 4–5

Solomon’s Officials

4Solomon was king of all Israel, ²and these were his high officials:

The priest: Azariah son of Zadok

³The court secretaries: Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha

In charge of the records: Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud

⁴Commander of the army: Benaiah son of Jehoiada

Priests: Zadok and Abiathar

⁵Chief of the district governors: Azariah son of Nathan

Royal adviser: the priest Zabud son of Nathan

⁶In charge of the palace servants: Ahishar

In charge of the forced labour: Adoniram son of Abda

⁷Solomon appointed twelve men as district governors in Israel. They were to provide food from their districts for the king and his household, each man being responsible for one month out of the year. ⁸The following are the names of these twelve officers and the districts they were in charge of:

Benhur: the hill country of Ephraim

⁹Bendeker: the cities of Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, Elon, and Beth Hanan

¹⁰Benhesed: the cities of Arubboth and Socoh and all the territory of Hepher

¹¹Benabinadab, who was married to Solomon’s daughter Taphath: the whole region of Dor

¹²Baana son of Ahilud: the cities of Taanach, Megiddo, and all the region near Beth Shan, near the town of Zarethan, south of the town of Jezreel, as far as the city of Abel Meholah and the city of Jokmeam

¹³Bengeber: the city of Ramoth in Gilead, and the villages in Gilead belonging to the clan of Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, and the region of Argob in Bashan, sixty large towns in all, fortified with walls and with bronze bars on the gates

¹⁴Ahinadab son of Iddo: the district of Mahanaim

¹⁵Ahimaaz, who was married to Basemath, another of Solomon’s daughters: the territory of Naphtali

¹⁶Baana son of Hushai: the region of Asher and the town of Bealoth

¹⁷Jehoshaphat son of Paruah: the territory of Issachar

¹⁸Shimei son of Ela: the territory of Benjamin

¹⁹Geber son of Uri: the region of Gilead, which had been ruled by King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan

Besides these twelve, there was one governor over the whole land.

Solomon’s Prosperous Reign

²⁰The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore; they ate and drank, and were happy. ^21*Solomon’s kingdom included all the nations from the River Euphrates to Philistia and the Egyptian border. They paid him taxes and were subject to him all his life.

²²The supplies Solomon needed each day were 5,000 litres of fine flour and 10,000 litres of meal; ²³ten stall-fed cattle, twenty pasture-fed cattle, and a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and poultry.

²⁴Solomon ruled over all the land west of the River Euphrates, from Tiphsah on the Euphrates as far west as the city of Gaza. All the kings west of the Euphrates were subject to him, and he was at peace with all the neighbouring countries. ²⁵As long as he lived, the people throughout Judah and Israel lived in safety, each family with its own grapevines and fig trees.

^26*Solomon had 40,000 stalls for his chariot horses and 12,000 cavalry horses. ²⁷His twelve governors, each one in the month assigned to him, supplied the food King Solomon needed for himself and for all who ate in the palace; they always supplied everything needed. ²⁸Each governor also supplied his share of barley and straw, where it was needed,ⁱ for the chariot horses and the draught animals.

²⁹God gave Solomon unusual wisdom and insight, and knowledge too great to be measured. ³⁰Solomon was wiser than the wise men of the East or the wise men of Egypt. ^31*He was the wisest of all men: wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame spread throughout all the neighbouring countries. ^32*He composed 3,000 proverbs and more than a thousand songs. ³³He spoke of trees and plants, from the Lebanon cedars to the hyssop that grows on walls; he talked about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. ³⁴Kings all over the world heard of his wisdom and sent people to listen to him.

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

5King Hiram of Tyre had always been a friend of David’s, and when he heard that Solomon had succeeded his father David as king he sent ambassadors to him. ²Solomon sent back this message to Hiram: ³“You know that because of the constant wars my father David had to fight against the enemy countries all round him, he could not build a temple for the worship of the Lord his God until the Lord had given him victory over all his enemies. ⁴But now the Lord my God has given me peace on all my borders. I have no enemies, and there is no danger of attack. ^5*The Lord promised my father David, ‘Your son, whom I will make king after you, will build a temple for me.’ And I have now decided to build that temple for the worship of the Lord my God. ⁶So send your men to Lebanon to cut down cedars for me. My men will work with them, and I will pay your men whatever you decide. As you well know, my men don’t know how to cut down trees as well as yours do.”

⁷Hiram was extremely pleased when he received Solomon’s message, and he said, “Praise the Lord today for giving David such a wise son to succeed him as king of that great nation!” ⁸Then Hiram sent Solomon the following message: “I have received your message and I am ready to do what you ask. I will provide the cedars and the pine trees. ⁹My men will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the sea, and will tie them together in rafts to float them down the coast to the place you choose. There my men will untie them, and your men will take charge of them. On your part, I would like you to supply the food for my men.”

¹⁰So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the cedar and pine logs that he wanted, ¹¹and Solomon provided Hiram with 2,000 tonnes of wheat and 400,000 litres^j of pure olive oil every year to feed his men.

¹²The Lord kept his promise and gave Solomon wisdom. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they made a treaty with each other.

¹³King Solomon drafted 30,000 men as forced labour from all over Israel, ^14*and put Adoniram in charge of them. He divided them into three groups of 10,000 men, and each group spent one month in Lebanon and two months back home. ¹⁵Solomon also had 80,000 men in the hill country quarrying stone, with 70,000 men to carry it, ¹⁶and he placed 3,300 foremen in charge of them to supervise their work. ¹⁷At King Solomon’s command they quarried fine large stones for the foundation of the Temple. ¹⁸Solomon’s and Hiram’s workmen and men from the city of Byblos prepared the stones and the timber to build the Temple.