1 Kings 4:20–28

Solomon’s Kingdom

²⁰There were as many people in Judah and Israel as grains of sand on the seashore. The people ate, drank, and were happy. ²¹Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These countries brought Solomon the payments he demanded, and they were under his control all his life.

²²Solomon needed much food each day to feed himself and all the people who ate at his table: one hundred ninety-five bushels of fine flour, three hundred ninety bushels of grain, ²³ten cows that were fed on good grain, twenty cows that were raised in the fields, one hundred sheep, three kinds of deer, and fattened birds.

²⁴Solomon controlled all the countries west of the Euphrates River—the land from Tiphsah to Gaza. And he had peace on all sides of his kingdom. ²⁵During Solomon’s life Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, ⁿ also lived in peace; all of his people were able to sit under their own fig trees and grapevines.

²⁶Solomon had four thousand stalls for his chariot horses and twelve thousand horses. ²⁷Each month one of the district governors gave King Solomon all the food he needed—enough for every person who ate at the king’s table. The governors made sure he had everything he needed. ²⁸They also brought enough barley and straw for Solomon’s chariot and work horses; each person brought this grain to the right place.