1 Kings 4
1 Solomon was the king who ruled all of Israel,
King Solomon ruled over all of Israel.
2 and these were his most important officials: Zadok’s son Azariah was the priest.
These were his officials: Azariah, son of Zadok, was the priest;
3 Shisha’s sons Elihoreph and Ahijah were the [official] secretaries. Ahilud’s son Jehoshaphat was the one who announced to the people the king’s decisions.
Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha, were the king's secretaries. Jehoshaphat, son of Ahilud, kept the royal records.
4 Benaiah was the commander of the army. Zadok and Abiathar were also priests.
Benaiah son of Jehoiada was the army commander. Zadok and Abiathar were priests.
5 Nathan’s son Azariah was the administrator of the governors. Another of Nathan’s sons, Zabud, was a priest and the king’s chief advisor.
Azariah, son of Nathan, was in charge of the governors. Zabud, son of Nathan, was a priest and the king's counselor.
6 Ahishar supervised the servants who worked in the palace. Abda’s son Adoniram supervised the men who were forced to do work [for the government].
Ahishar was the palace manager. Adoniram, son of Abda, was in charge of those forced to work for the king.
7 Solomon appointed twelve men, one to govern [each of the regions] in Israel. They also were required to provide food for the king and all the others who lived and worked in the palace. Each man was required to provide from his own region the food for one month each year.
Solomon had twelve area governors whose responsibilities covered the whole of Israel, providing food for the king and his household. Each one in turn arranged supplies for one month of the year.
8 Their names were: Ben-Hur, for the hilly area of the tribe of Ephraim.
Their names were: Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim;
9 Ben-Deker, for Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-Shemesh, and Elon-Bethhanan [cities];
Ben-deker in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh and Elon-beth-hanan;
10 Ben-Hesed, for Arubboth and Socoh [towns] and the area near Hepher [town];
Ben-hesed in Arubboth (Socoh and all the land of Hepher was his);
11 Ben-Abinadab, who was married to Solomon’s daughter Taphath, for all the Dor district;
Ben-abinadab, in the whole of Naphath-dor (Taphath, the daughter of Solomon, was his wife);
12 Ahilud’s son Baana, for Taanach and Megiddo [towns], and all the region near Zarethan [city], and from Beth-Shan [city] south of Jezreel as far as Abel-Meholah [town] and Jokmeam [city];
Baana, son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, the whole of Beth-shan near Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth-shan to Abel-meholah and across to Jokmeam;
13 Ben-Geber, for Ramoth [city] in [the] Gilead [region], and for the villages in Gilead that belonged to Jair, who was a descendant of Manasseh, and the Argob area in [the] Bashan [region]. There were 60 large towns in that region altogether, each town with a wall around it and bronze bars across the gates.
Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (the towns of Jair, son of Manasseh, in Gilead belonged to him, as well as the region of Argob in Bashan, with sixty great cities having walls and bronze bars);
14 Iddo’s son Ahinadab, for Mahanaim [city east of the Jordan River];
Ahinadab, son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;
15 Ahimaaz, who had married Solomon’s daughter Basemath, for [the territory of the tribe of] Naphtali;
Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he had married Basemath the daughter of Solomon);
16 Hushai’s son Baana, for [the territory of the tribe of] Asher and for Aloth [town];
Baana, son of Hushai, in Asher and in Aloth;
17 Paruah’s son Jehoshaphat, for [the territory of the tribe of] Issachar;
Jehoshaphat, son of Paruah, in Issachar;
18 Ela’s son Shimei, for [the territory of the tribe of] Benjamin;
Shimei, son of Ela, in Benjamin;
19 Uri’s son Geber, for the Gilead region, the land that Sihon the king of the Amor people-group [formerly ruled], and the Bashan [area], which was the area that Og [formerly ruled]. [In addition to all those], Solomon appointed one governor for the [territory of the] tribe of Judah.
Geber son of Uri in the land of Gilead, (the former country of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and of Og, king of Bashan. There was also a governor who was over the land of Judah).
20 There were as many people in Judah and Israel as there are grains of sand [HYP] on the seashore. They [had plenty to] eat and drink and they were happy.
Judah and Israel had become as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They ate, they drank, they were happy.
21 Solomon’s kingdom extended from the Euphrates [River in the northeast] to the Philistia area [in the west] and to the border of Egypt [in the south]. The [conquered] people in those areas paid taxes and were under Solomon’s control for the rest of his life.
Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, right up to the border of Egypt. They presented tribute to Solomon and served him during his lifetime.
22 [To feed the people in his palace and his guests] Solomon needed people to bring to him every day 150 bushels of fine flour and 300 bushels of wheat,
The food required every day for Solomon's court was thirty cors of the best flour and sixty cors of meal;
23 ten cattle that were kept in stalls/barns, 20 cattle that were kept in pastures, 100 sheep, and (deer and gazelles and roebucks/three kinds of deer), and poultry.
ten fattened cattle, twenty range cattle, one hundred sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, roe deer, and fattened poultry.
24 Solomon ruled over all the area west of the Euphrates [River], from Tiphsah [city in the northeast] to Gaza [city in the southwest]. He ruled over all the kings in that area. And there was peace between his [government] and the [governments of] nearby countries.
For Solomon ruled over the whole region west of the Euphrates, from Tiphsah to Gaza—over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates. And he had peace on all sides around him. He had peace on every border.
25 All during the years that Solomon ruled, the people of Judah and Israel lived safely. Each family had its own grapevines and fig trees.
During Solomon's lifetime, everyone in Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan to Beersheba. Each one had their own vine and fig tree.
26 Solomon had 4,000 stalls for the horses [that pulled] his chariots and 12,000 men who rode on horses (OR, in the chariots).
Solomon had 40,000 stalls for his chariot horses, and 12,000 charioteers.
27 His twelve governors supplied the food that King Solomon needed for himself and for all those who ate in the palace. Each governor supplied food for one month each year. They provided everything [LIT] that Solomon required.
Every month the area governors provided in turn food for King Solomon and all who ate at his table. They made sure that nothing was missing.
28 They also brought [stalks of] barley and wheat for the fast horses [that pulled the chariots] and for the [other work] horses. They brought it to the places where the horses were kept.
They also delivered barley and straw where they were needed for the chariot horses and cart-horses.
29 God enabled Solomon to be extremely wise and to have great insight/understanding. He understood about more things than the number of grains of sand on the seashore [HYP].
God gave to Solomon wisdom, very great discernment, and understanding as extensive as the sand on the seashore.
30 He was wiser than all the wise men in Arabia and Mesopotamia and all the wise men in Egypt.
Solomon's wisdom was greater than that of all the Eastern wise men, greater than all of Egypt's wisdom.
31 Ethan from Ezrah and Heman and Calcol and Darda and the sons of Mahol were [considered to be] very wise, but Solomon was wiser than all of them. People in all the nearby countries heard about Solomon.
He was wiser than anyone, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, wiser than Heman, Calcol, and Darda, sons of Mahol. His reputation spread through the nations around.
32 He composed/wrote 3,000 (proverbs/wise sayings) and more than 1,000 songs.
Solomon composed three thousand proverbs and one thousand and five songs.
33 He talked about various kinds of plants, from the [huge] cedar trees in Lebanon to the [tiny] hyssop plants that grow in cracks in walls. He also talked about wild animals and birds and reptiles and fish.
He was able to discuss knowledge of trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows in the wall. He taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish.
34 People came from all over the world to hear the wise things that Solomon said. Many kings sent men to listen to him [and then return and tell them what Solomon said].
People from all nations came to hear Solomon's wisdom. They were sent by all the kings of the earth, who had heard about his wisdom.
