1 Kings 4–5

4So king Solomon was king over all Israel. ²And these were the princes which he had; Azariah the son of Zadok ^||the priest, ³Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of ^aShisha, ^||scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the ^||recorder. ⁴And ^bBenaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host: and Zadok and ^cAbiathar were the priests: ⁵And Azariah the son of Nathan was over ^dthe officers: and Zabud the son of Nathan was ^eprincipal officer, and ^fthe king’s friend: ⁶And Ahishar was over the household: and ^gAdoniram the son of Abda was over the ^||tribute. ⁷And Solomon had twelve ^dofficers over all Israel, which provided victuals for the king and his household: each man his month in a year made provision. ⁸And these are their names: ^||The son of Hur, in ^hmount Ephraim: ^9||The son of Dekar, in Makaz, and in ⁱShaalbim, and ^jBeth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan: ^10||The son of Hesed, in Aruboth; to him pertained ^kSochoh, and all the land of ^lHepher: ^11||The son of Abinadab, in all ^mthe region of Dor; which had Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife: ¹²Baana the son of ⁿAhilud; to him pertained ^oTaanach and ^oMegiddo, and all ^pBeth-shean, which is by ^qZartanah beneath ^rJezreel, from ^pBeth-shean to ^sAbel-meholah, even unto the place that is beyond ^tJokneam: ^13||The son of Geber, in ^uRamoth-gilead; to him pertained ^vthe towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; to him also pertained ^wthe region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities ^wwith walls and brasen bars: ¹⁴Ahinadab the son of ^xIddo had ^||Mahanaim: ^15yAhimaaz was in Naphtali; he also took Basmath the daughter of Solomon to wife: ¹⁶Baanah the son of ^zHushai was in Asher and in Aloth: ¹⁷Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar: ^18aShimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin: ¹⁹Geber the son of Uri was in the country of Gilead, in ^bthe country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer which was in the land. ²⁰Judah and Israel were many, ^cas the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.

²¹And ^dSolomon reigned over all kingdoms from ^ethe river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: ^fthey brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life. ²²And Solomon’s ^†provision for one day was thirty ^†measures of fine flour, and threescore ^†measures of meal, ²³Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside ^gharts, and ^groebucks, and ^hfallowdeer, and fatted fowl. ²⁴For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from ⁱTiphsah even to ^jAzzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and ^khe had peace on all sides round about him. ²⁵And Judah and Israel dwelt ^†safely, ^levery man under his vine and under his fig tree, ^mfrom Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon. ²⁶And Solomon had ⁿforty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. ²⁷And those ^oofficers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon’s table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing. ²⁸Barley also and straw for the horses and ^||dromedaries brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.

²⁹And ^pGod gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even ^qas the sand that is on the sea shore. ³⁰And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all ^rthe children of the east country, and all ^sthe wisdom of Egypt. ³¹For he was ^twiser than all men; ^uthan Ethan the ^vEzrahite, and ^wHeman, and ^xChalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about. ³²And ^yhe spake three thousand proverbs: and his ^zsongs were a thousand and five. ³³And he spake of trees, from ^athe cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto ^bthe hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes. ³⁴And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from ^call kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.

5And ^||Hiram king of ^aTyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: ^bfor Hiram was ever a lover of David. ²And ^cSolomon sent to Hiram, saying, ³Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the Lord his God ^dfor the wars which were about him on every side, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. ⁴But now the Lord my God hath given me ^erest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil ^foccurrent. ⁵And, behold, I ^†purpose to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, ^ghe shall build an house unto my name. ⁶Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt ^†appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the ^hSidonians. ⁷And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, ⁱBlessed be the Lord this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people. ⁸And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have ^†considered the things which thou sentest to me for: and I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of ^jfir. ⁹My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt ^†appoint me, and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them: and thou shalt accomplish my desire, ^kin giving food for my household. ¹⁰So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all his desire. ¹¹And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand ^†measures of wheat for food to his household, and ^ltwenty ^†measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year. ¹²And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, ^mas he promised him: and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.

¹³And king Solomon raised a ^†levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men. ¹⁴And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home: and ⁿAdoniram was over the levy. ¹⁵And Solomon had ^othreescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains; ¹⁶Beside the chief of Solomon’s ^pofficers which were over the work, ^othree thousand and three hundred, ^qwhich ruled over the people that wrought in the work. ¹⁷And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and ^rhewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house. ¹⁸And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them, and the ^||stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.