Read the Bible

¹ King Solomon was king over all Israel. ² These were the princes whom he had: Azariah the son of Zadok, the priest; ³ Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder; ⁴ and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests; ⁵ and Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; and Zabud the son of Nathan was chief minister, [and] the king's friend; ⁶ and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to forced labor. ⁷ Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided victuals for the king and his household: each man had to make provision for a month in the year. ⁸ These are their names: Ben-hur, in the hill-country of Ephraim; ⁹ Ben-deker, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Beth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan; ¹⁰ Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him [pertained] Socoh, and all the land of Hepher); ¹¹ Ben-abinadab, in all the height of Dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as wife); ¹² Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean which is beside Zarethan, beneath Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as beyond Jokmeam; ¹³ Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (to him [pertained] the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; [even] to him [pertained] the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and brazen bars); ¹⁴ Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; ¹⁵ Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon as wife); ¹⁶ Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; ¹⁷ Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; ¹⁸ Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; ¹⁹ Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and [he was] the only officer who was in the land.

²⁰ Judah and Israel were many as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry. ²¹ Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt: they brought tribute, and served Solomon all the days of his life. ²² Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and sixty measures of meal, ²³ ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and one hundred sheep, besides harts, and gazelles, and roebucks, and fattened fowl. ²⁴ For he had dominion over all [the region] on this side the River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings on this side the River: and he had peace on all sides round about him. ²⁵ Judah and Israel lived safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. ²⁶ Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. ²⁷ Those officers provided victuals for king Solomon, and for all who came to king Solomon's table, every man in his month; they let nothing be lacking. ²⁸ Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds brought they to the place where [the officers] were, every man according to his charge.

²⁹ God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and very great understanding, even as the sand that is on the sea-shore. ³⁰ Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹ For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all the nations round about. ³² He spoke three thousand proverbs; and his songs were one thousand five. ³³ He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, and of birds, and of creeping things, and of fish. ³⁴ There came of all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.