1 Kings 4–5

¹And king Solomon is king over all Israel, ²and these are the heads whom he hath: Azariah son of Zadok is the priest; ³Elihoreph and Ahiah sons of Shisha are scribes; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud is remembrancer; ⁴and Benaiah son of Jehoiada is over the host; and Zadok and Abiathar are priests; ⁵and Azariah son of Nathan is over the officers; and Zabud son of Nathan is minister, friend of the king; ⁶And Ahishar is over the household, and Adoniram son of Abda is over the tribute. ⁷And Solomon hath twelve officers over all Israel, and they have sustained the king and his household—a month in the year is on each one for sustenance; ⁸and these are their names: Ben-Hur in the hill-country of Ephraim; ⁹Ben-Dekar in Makaz, and Shaalbim, and Beth-Shemesh, and Elon-Beth-Hanan. ¹⁰Ben-Hesed is in Aruboth, hath Sochoh and all the land of Hepher; ¹¹Ben-Abinadab hath all the elevation of Dor, Taphath daughter of Solomon became his wife. ¹²Baana Ben-Ahilud hath Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-Shean, which is by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Beth-Shean unto Abel-Meholah, unto beyond Jokneam. ¹³Ben-Geber, in Ramoth-Gilead, hath the small towns of Jair son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; he hath a portion of Argob that is in Bashan, sixty great cities with wall and brazen bar. ¹⁴Ahinadab son of Iddo hath Mahanaim. ¹⁵Ahimaaz is in Naphtali; he also hath taken Basemath daughter of Solomon for a wife. ¹⁶Baanah Ben-Hushai is in Asher, and in Aloth. ¹⁷Jehoshaphat Ben-Paruah is in Issachar. ¹⁸Shimei Ben-Elah is in Benjamin. ¹⁹Geber Ben-Uri is in the land of Gilead, the land of Sihon king of the Amorite, and of Og king of Bashan: and one officer who is in the land.

²⁰Judah and Israel are many, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude, eating and drinking and rejoicing. ²¹And Solomon hath been ruling over all the kingdoms, from the River to the land of the Philistines and unto the border of Egypt: they are bringing nigh a present, and serving Solomon, all days of his life. ²²And the provision of Solomon for one day is thirty cors of flour, and sixty cors of meal; ²³ten fat oxen, and twenty feeding oxen, and a hundred sheep, apart from hart, and roe, and fallow-deer, and fatted beasts of the stalls, ²⁴for he is ruling over all beyond the river, from Tiphsah and unto Gaza, over all the kings beyond the river, and he hath peace from all his servants round about. ²⁵And Judah dwelleth—and Israel—in confidence, each under his vine, and under his fig-tree, from Dan even unto Beer-Sheba, all the days of Solomon. ²⁶And Solomon hath forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. ²⁷And these officers have sustained king Solomon and every one drawing near unto the table of king Solomon, each in his month; they let nothing be lacking. ²⁸And the barley and the straw, for horses and for dromedaries, they bring in unto the place where they are, each according to his ordinance.

²⁹And God giveth wisdom to Solomon, and understanding, very much, and breadth of heart, as the sand that is on the edge of the sea; ³⁰and the wisdom of Solomon is greater than the wisdom of any of the sons of the east, and than all the wisdom of Egypt; ³¹and he is wiser than all men, than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, sons of Mahol, and his name is in all the nations round about. ³²And he speaketh three thousand similes, and his songs are five, and the chief one; ³³and he speaketh concerning the trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop that is coming out in the wall, and he speaketh concerning the cattle, and concerning the fowl, and concerning the creeping things, and concerning the fishes, ³⁴and there come out of all the peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth who have heard of his wisdom.

Chapter 5

¹And Hiram king of Tyre sendeth his servants unto Solomon, for he heard that they had anointed him for king instead of his father, for Hiram was a lover of David all the days; ²and Solomon sendeth unto Hiram, saying, ³‘Thou hast known David my father, that he hath not been able to build a house to the name of Jehovah his God, because of the wars that have been round about him, till Jehovah’s putting them under the soles of his feet.

⁴‘And now, Jehovah my God hath given rest to me round about, there is no adversary nor evil occurrence, ⁵and lo, I am saying to build a house to the name of Jehovah my God, as Jehovah spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son whom I appoint in thy stead on thy throne, he doth build the house for My name.

⁶‘And now, command, and they cut down for me cedars out of Lebanon, and my servants are with thy servants, and the hire of thy servants I give to thee according to all that thou sayest, for thou hast known that there is not among us a man acquainted with cutting wood, like the Sidonians.’ ⁷And it cometh to pass at Hiram’s hearing the words of Solomon, that he rejoiceth exceedingly, and saith, ‘Blessed is Jehovah to-day, who hath given to David a wise son over this numerous people.’ ⁸And Hiram sendeth unto Solomon, saying, I have heard that which thou hast sent unto me, I do all thy desire concerning cedar-wood, and fir-wood, ⁹my servants bring down from Lebanon to the sea, and I make them floats in the sea unto the place that thou sendest unto me, and I have spread them out there; and thou dost take them up, and thou dost execute my desire, to give the food of my house.’

¹⁰And Hiram is giving to Solomon cedar-trees, and fir-trees, all his desire, ¹¹and Solomon hath given to Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat, food for his house, and twenty cors of beaten oil; thus doth Solomon give to Hiram year by year. ¹²And Jehovah hath given wisdom to Solomon as He spake to him, and there is peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they make a covenant both of them. ¹³And king Solomon lifteth up a tribute out of all Israel, and the tribute is thirty thousand men, ¹⁴and he sendeth them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month, by changes, a month they are in Lebanon, two months in their own house; and Adoniram is over the tribute. ¹⁵And king Solomon hath seventy thousand bearing burdens, and eighty thousand hewing in the mountain, ¹⁶apart from the heads of the officers of Solomon, who are over the work, three thousand and three hundred, those ruling over the people who are working in the business. ¹⁷And the king commandeth, and they bring great stones, precious stone, to lay the foundation of the house, hewn stones; ¹⁸and the builders of Solomon, and the builders of Hiram, and the Giblites hew, and prepare the wood and the stones to build the house.

Chapter 6