1 Kings 4 1So King Solomon was the king of all Israel. 2These were his important officers: Azariah, the son of Zadok, was the priest. 3Elihoreph and Ahijah. They were the sons of Shisha. They wrote down what happened. Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud. Jehoshaphat looked after what was written. 4Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. Benaiah was the leader of the army. Zadok and Abiathar were priests. 5Azariah the son of Nathan. He told the 12 officers what to do. Zabud, a son of Nathan. Zabud was a priest and he was a friend of the king. 6Ahishar kept the king’s houses. Adoniram the son of Abda. Adoniram told the workers what they should do. 7Solomon had 12 officers. They were in different places in Israel. They supplied food for the king and for the people that lived in his houses. Each officer had to supply food for one month in each year. 8These are their names: Ben-Hur. He supplied food from the hills in Ephraim. 9Ben-Deker. He supplied food from Makaz and Shaalbim and Beth Shemesh and Elon Beth Hanan. 10Ben-hesed. He supplied food from Arubboth. Socoh and all the fields round Hepher were his. 11Ben-Abinadab. He supplied food from the hills near Dor. He had married Solomon’s daughter called Taphath. 12Baana the son of Ahilud. He supplied food from Taanach and Megiddo and all of Beth-shan. Beth-shan is near Zarethan, which is below Jezreel. He also supplied food from Beth-shan, Abel-Meholah and Jokmeam. 13Ben-Geber. He supplied food from Ramoth Gilead. The villages of Manasseh’s son Jair in Gilead were his. Also, the country round Argob in Bashan was his. It included 60 large cities. The cities had walls and long pieces of metal to lock the gates. 14Ahinadab the son of Iddo. He supplied food from Mahanaim. 15Ahimaaz. He supplied food from Naphtali. Ahimaaz had married Basemath, Solomon’s daughter. 16Baana the son of Hushai. He supplied food from Asher and Aloth. 17Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah. He supplied food from Issachar. 18Shimei the son of Ela. He supplied food from Benjamin. 19Geber the son of Uri. He supplied food from Gilead. Gilead was the country where Sihon was king. He was king of the people called Amorites. It was also the country where Og was the king of Bashan. Geber was the only officer in this country. Solomon’s kingdom 20There were very many people in Judah and Israel. There were as many of them as there are bits of sand by the sea. They ate and they drank. So they were very happy. 21And Solomon ruled over all the kingdom. The kingdom was from the River Euphrates to the country where the Philistines live. They live near the border of Egypt. The people from these places brought gifts to Solomon and they were his servants all the days of his life. 22And this is what his officers supplied to Solomon each day: 30 cors (6,600 litres or 1,700 gallons) of flour. 60 cors (13,200 litres or 3,400 gallons) of wheat. 2310 cows that ate in the farm buildings. 20 cows that ate in the fields. 100 sheep. also animals called deer, gazelle, roebuck and chickens. 24Solomon ruled all the land west of the River Euphrates. He ruled from Tiphsah to Gaza. There was no war in any of these places. 25While Solomon ruled, Judah and Israel were safe. Each person lived under their vine or fig tree, from Dan to Beersheba. 26Solomon had 4,000 buildings for horses that pulled chariots. And he had 12,000 horses. 27The 12 officers supplied food for King Solomon and for everybody that ate with him. The king got everything that he needed. 28Each officer brought his part. They brought food and dry grass for the horses that pulled chariots and for the other horses. Solomon’s wisdom 29God gave Solomon wisdom. He could see what things mean. So he understood them well. He had more wisdom than there are bits of sand on the sea shore! 30Solomon had more wisdom than all the men in the East. His wisdom was greater than all the wisdom in Egypt. 31He had more wisdom than any other man. This includes the man called Ethan the Ezrahite. And it includes Heman, Calcol and Darda. Calcol and Darda were the sons of Mahol. Solomon was famous in all the countries round Israel. 32He spoke 3,000 proverbs and he wrote 5,000 songs. 33And he described many plants: he described large ones like the cedar trees that grow in Lebanon. And he described small ones like the small plant called hyssop that grows on walls. And he taught people about all kinds of animals, birds, fish and things that move on their stomachs. 34People came from all countries to listen to the wisdom of Solomon. Every king on earth who had heard about his wisdom sent someone. Matthew 22:37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ https://temtube.com/
1 Kings 4 and Matthew 22:37
