Solomon's Officials

¹King Solomon was king over all Israel, ²and these were his high officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was bthe priest; ³Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha were secretaries; cJehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; ⁴dBenaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; eZadok and Abiathar were priests; ⁵Azariah the son of Nathan was over fthe officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and gking's friend; ⁶Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and hAdoniram the son of Abda was in charge of ithe 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 one month in the year. ⁸These were their names: Ben-hur, in jthe hill country of Ephraim; ⁹Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan; ¹⁰Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher); ¹¹Ben-abinadab, in all kNaphath-dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); ¹²Baana the son of Ahilud, in lTaanach, Megiddo, and all lBeth-shean that is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam; ¹³Ben-geber, min Ramoth-gilead (he had nthe villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he had othe region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars); ¹⁴Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; ¹⁵Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he had taken Basemath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); ¹⁶Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; ¹⁷Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; ¹⁸pShimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; ¹⁹Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, qthe country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. And there was one governor who was over the land.

Solomon's Wealth and Wisdom

²⁰Judah and Israel were as many ras the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. ²¹1 sSolomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the tEuphrates2 to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. uThey brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

²²Solomon's provision for one day was thirty cors3 of fine flour and sixty cors of meal, ²³ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. ²⁴For he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates4 from Tiphsah to vGaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. wAnd he had peace on all sides around him. ²⁵And Judah and Israel xlived in safety, yfrom Dan even to Beersheba, zevery man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon. ²⁶aSolomon also had 40,0005 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. ²⁷And those officers supplied provisions for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon's table, each one in his month. They let nothing be lacking. ²⁸Barley also and straw for the horses and bswift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his duty.

²⁹cAnd God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind dlike the sand on the seashore, ³⁰so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all ethe people of the east fand all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹For he was cwiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. ³²gHe also spoke 3,000 proverbs, hand his songs were 1,005. ³³He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. ³⁴And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from iall the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

Preparations for Building the Temple

¹1 Now jHiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, kfor Hiram always loved David. ²And Solomon sent word to Hiram, ³l“You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God mbecause of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. ⁴nBut now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. ⁵And so I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, oas the Lord said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’ ⁶Now therefore command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. And my servants will join your servants, and I will pay you for your servants such wages as you set, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”

⁷As soon as Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the Lord this day, who has given to David a wise son to be over this great people.” ⁸And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message that you have sent to me. I am ready to do all you desire in the matter of cedar and cypress timber. ⁹My servants shall bring it down to the sea from Lebanon, and I will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you direct. And I will have them broken up there, and you shall receive it. And you shall meet my wishes pby providing food for my household.” ¹⁰So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the timber of cedar and cypress that he desired, ¹¹while Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cors2 of wheat as food for his household, and 20,0003 cors of beaten oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year. ¹²And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, qas he promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

¹³King Solomon drafted rforced labor out of all Israel, and the draft numbered 30,000 men. ¹⁴And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts. They would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home. sAdoniram was in charge of the draft. ¹⁵Solomon also thad 70,000 burden-bearers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country, ¹⁶besides Solomon's 3,300 uchief officers who were over the work, vwho had charge of the people who carried on the work. ¹⁷At the king's command wthey quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones. ¹⁸So Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and xthe men of Gebal did the cutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.