1 Kings 4

1 Solomon was the king who ruled all of Israel,

And he was the king Solomon king over all Israel.

2 and these were his most important officials: Zadok’s son Azariah was the priest.

And these [were] the officials who [belonged] to him Azariah [the] 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 [the] sons of Shisha [were] scribes Jehoshaphat [the] son of Ahilud [was] the recorder.

4 Benaiah was the commander of the army. Zadok and Abiathar were also priests.

And Benaiah [the] son of Jehoiada [was] over the army and 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.

And Azariah [the] son of Nathan [was] over the overseers and Zabud [the] son of Nathan [was] a priest [the] friend of the king.

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].

And Ahishar [was] over the house and Adoniram [the] son of Abda [was] over the forced labor.

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.

And [belonged] to Solomon two plus ten overseers over all Israel and they supplied the king and household his a month in the year it was on (the one *QK) to supply.

8 Their names were: Ben-Hur, for the hilly area of the tribe of Ephraim.

And these [are] names their Ben-Hur in [the] hill country of Ephraim.

9 Ben-Deker, for Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-Shemesh, and Elon-Bethhanan [cities];

Ben-Deker in Makaz and in Shaalbim and in Beth Shemesh and Elon Beth Hanan.

10 Ben-Hesed, for Arubboth and Socoh [towns] and the area near Hepher [town];

Ben-Hesed in Arubboth [belonged] to him Socoh and all [the] land of Hepher.

11 Ben-Abinadab, who was married to Solomon’s daughter Taphath, for all the Dor district;

Ben-Abinadab all Naphath of Dor Taphath [the] daughter of Solomon she became of him a 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 [the] son of Ahilud Taanach and Megiddo and all Beth Shean which [is] beside Zarethan from under to Jezreel from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah to from [the] other side of 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 [belonged] to him [the] villages of Jair [the] son of Manasseh which [are] in Gilead [belonged] to him [the] region of Argob which [is] in Bashan sixty cities large a wall and bar[s] of bronze.

14 Iddo’s son Ahinadab, for Mahanaim [city east of the Jordan River];

Ahinadab [the] son of Iddo Mahanaim.

15 Ahimaaz, who had married Solomon’s daughter Basemath, for [the territory of the tribe of] Naphtali;

Ahimaaz in Naphtali also he he took Basemath [the] daughter of Solomon to a wife.

16 Hushai’s son Baana, for [the territory of the tribe of] Asher and for Aloth [town];

Baana [the] son of Hushai in Asher and Bealoth.

17 Paruah’s son Jehoshaphat, for [the territory of the tribe of] Issachar;

Jehoshaphat [the] son of Paruah in Issachar.

18 Ela’s son Shimei, for [the territory of the tribe of] Benjamin;

Shimei [the] 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 [the] son of Uri in [the] land of Gilead [the] land of Sihon - [the] king of the Amorite[s] and Og [the] king of Bashan and an overseer one who [was] in the land.

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 [were] numerous like the sand which [is] at the sea for multitude [they were] eating and [were] drinking and [were] joyful.

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.

And Solomon he was ruling over all the kingdoms from the River [the] land of [the] Philistines and to [the] border of Egypt [they were] bringing tribute and [were] serving Solomon all [the] days of life his.

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,

And it was [the] food of Solomon for a day one thirty cor[s] of fine flour and sixty cor[s] of flour.

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 cattle fat and twenty cattle pasture and one hundred sheep apart from deer and gazelle and roe-deer and birds fattened.

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 he [was] ruling - over all [the] other side of the River from Tiphsah and to Gaza over all [the] kings of [the] other side of the River and peace it belonged to him from all sides his from round about.

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.

And it dwelt Judah and Israel to security everyone under own vine his and under own fig tree his from Dan and to Beer Sheba all [the] days of Solomon.

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).

And it belonged to Solomon forty thousand stalls of horses for chariotry his and two plus ten thousand horsemen.

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.

And they supplied the overseers these the king Solomon and every [person] approaching to [the] table of the king Solomon each month his not they left lacking anything.

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.

And the barley and the straw for the horses and for the steed[s] they brought to the place where it was there each according to measure his.

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].

And he gave God wisdom to Solomon and understanding great very and breadth of heart like the sand which [is] on [the] shore of the sea.

30 He was wiser than all the wise men in Arabia and Mesopotamia and all the wise men in Egypt.

And it was great [the] wisdom of Solomon more than [the] wisdom of all [the] people of [the] east and more than all [the] wisdom of Egypt.

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.

And he was wise more than any human more than Ethan the Ezrachite and Heman and Kalkol and Darda [the] sons of Mahol and it was name his among all the nations around.

32 He composed/wrote 3,000 (proverbs/wise sayings) and more than 1,000 songs.

And he spoke three thousand proverb[s] and it was song his five and one thousand.

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.

And he spoke on the trees from the cedar which [is] in Lebanon and to the hyssop which [is] coming out in the wall and he spoke on the animal[s] and on the bird[s] and on the creeping thing[s] and on the 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].

And people came from all the peoples to hear [the] wisdom of Solomon from with all [the] kings of the earth who they had heard wisdom his.