1 Kings 4 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

King Solomon ruled over all of Israel.

These were his top officials: Azariah son of Zadok was the priest;

Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha, were the secretaries; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;

Benaiah son of Jehoiada was commander over the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

Azariah son of Nathan was over the district governors; Zabud son of Nathan was a priest and the king's personal adviser;

Ahishar managed the palace; and Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor.

Solomon had twelve district governors over all Israel who supplied provisions for the king and the royal household. Each one was responsible for providing supplies for one month of the year.

These were their names: Ben-Hur, in the hill country of Ephraim;

Ben-Deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-Shemesh, and Elon-Beth-Hanan;

Ben-Hesed, in Arubboth (Socoh and the entire land of Hepher were under him);

Ben-Abinadab, in all of Naphath-Dor (he was married to Taphath, Solomon's daughter);

Baana son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all of Beth-Shean — which is next to Zarethan below Jezreel — from Beth-Shean to Abel-Meholah and on past Jokmeam;

Ben-Geber, in Ramoth-Gilead (the villages of Jair son of Manasseh in Gilead were under him, as well as the region of Argob in Bashan — sixty large towns with walls and bronze gate-bars);

Ahinadab son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;

Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he too had married a daughter of Solomon — Basemath);

Baana son of Hushai, in Asher and in Aloth;

Jehoshaphat son of Paruah, in Issachar;

Shimei son of Ela, in Benjamin;

Geber son of Uri, in the land of Gilead — the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan. He was the only governor over that entire region.

The people of Judah and Israel were as countless as sand on the seashore. They ate, they drank, and they thrived.

Solomon controlled all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, all the way down to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon for his entire life.

Solomon's daily provisions were: thirty cors of fine flour, sixty cors of meal,

ten fattened cattle, twenty pasture-fed cattle, and a hundred sheep — not counting deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened poultry.

He controlled everything west of the Euphrates — from Tiphsah all the way to Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates — and he had peace on every side around him.

Judah and Israel lived in safety, everyone under their own vine and their own fig tree, from Dan all the way to Beersheba, for the whole time Solomon was alive.

Solomon had forty thousand stalls for his chariot horses, and twelve thousand horsemen.

The district governors each supplied provisions for King Solomon and everyone who came to his table, each during their assigned month. They made sure nothing was lacking.

They also brought barley and straw for the chariot horses and workhorses to the designated places — each governor providing their share.

God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and a breadth of mind as vast as the sand on the seashore.

Solomon's wisdom surpassed all the wisdom of the people of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt.

He was wiser than anyone — wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. His fame spread to all the surrounding nations.

He composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered one thousand and five.

He spoke about plant life — from the cedar of Lebanon down to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish.

People came from every nation to hear Solomon's wisdom — sent by all the kings of the world who had heard of it.