Solomon’s Princes 1 UDB Now when Solomon was king over all Israel, BSB BSB: So King Solomon ruled over Israel,
2 UDB these were his most important officials: Azariah, whose father was Zadok, was the priest. BSB BSB: and these were his chief officials: Azariah son of Zadok was the priest;
3 UDB 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. BSB BSB: Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were secretaries; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;
4 UDB Benaiah was the army commander. Zadok and Abiathar were also priests. BSB BSB: Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;
5 UDB Azariah, whose father was Nathan, was in charge of the governors. Another of Nathan's sons, Zabud, was a priest and the king's chief advisor. BSB BSB: Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the governors; Zabud son of Nathan was a priest and adviser to the king;
6 UDB Ahishar supervised the servants who worked in the palace. Abda's son Adoniram supervised the men who were forced to do work for the king. BSB BSB: Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor.
Solomon’s Twelve Officers 7 UDB Solomon appointed twelve men to govern the districts 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 district the food for one month in each year. BSB BSB: Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel to provide food for the king and his household. Each one would arrange provisions for one month of the year,
8 UDB Their names were: Ben-Hur, for the hill area of the tribe of Ephraim; BSB BSB: and these were their names: Ben-hur in the hill country of Ephraim;
9 UDB Ben-Deker, for the cities of Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Bethhanan; BSB BSB: Ben-deker in Makaz, in Shaalbim, in Beth-shemesh, and in Elon-beth-hanan;
10 UDB Ben-Hesed, for the cities of Arubboth and Sokoh and the area near the city of Hepher; BSB BSB: Ben-hesed in Arubboth (Socoh and all the land of Hepher belonged to him);
11 UDB Ben-Abinadab, who was married to Solomon's daughter Taphath, for all the district of Dor; BSB BSB: Ben-abinadab in Naphath-dor (Taphath, a daughter of Solomon, was his wife);
12 UDB Ahilud's son Baana, for the cities of Taanach and Megiddo, for all the region near the city of Zarethan, and from the city of Beth Shan south of Jezreel as far as the cities of Abel Meholah and Jokmeam; BSB BSB: Baana son of Ahilud in Taanach, in Megiddo, and in all of Beth-shean next to Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah and on past Jokmeam;
13 UDB Ben-Geber, for the city of Ramoth in the region of Gilead, for the villages in Gilead that belonged to Jair who was a descendant of Manasseh, and for the area of Argob in the region of Bashan—there were sixty large cities in that region altogether, each city with a wall around it and bronze bars across the gates; BSB BSB: Ben-geber in Ramoth-gilead (the villages of Jair son of Manasseh in Gilead belonged to him, as well as the region of Argob in Bashan with its sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars);
14 UDB Iddo's son Ahinadab, for the city of Mahanaim east of the Jordan River; BSB BSB: Ahinadab son of Iddo in Mahanaim;
15 UDB Ahimaaz, who had married Solomon's daughter Basemath, for the territory of the tribe of Naphtali; BSB BSB: Ahimaaz in Naphtali (he had married Basemath, a daughter of Solomon);
16 UDB Hushai's son Baana, for the territory of the tribe of Asher and for the city of Aloth; BSB BSB: Baana son of Hushai in Asher and in Aloth;
17 UDB Paruah's son Jehoshaphat, for the territory of the tribe of Issachar; BSB BSB: Jehoshaphat son of Paruah in Issachar;
18 UDB Ela's son Shimei, for the territory of the tribe of Benjamin; and BSB BSB: Shimei son of Ela in Benjamin;
19 UDB Uri’s son Geber, for the region of Gilead—the land that Sihon the king of the Amor people formerly ruled, and Og ruled the region of Bashan—and he was the only official who was in the land of Judah. BSB BSB: Geber son of Uri in the land of Gilead, including the territories of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. There was also one governor in the land of Judah.
Solomon’s Prosperity 20 UDB There were as many people in Judah and Israel as there are grains of sand on the seashore. They had plenty to eat and drink, and they were happy. BSB BSB: The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.
21 UDB Solomon's kingdom extended from the Euphrates River in the northeast to the region of Philistia 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 all during his life. BSB BSB: And Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These kingdoms offered tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.
22 UDB The people whom Solomon ruled were required to bring to Solomon every day thirty donkey-loads of fine flour and sixty donkey-loads of wheat, BSB BSB: Solomon’s provisions for a single day were thirty cors of fine flour, sixty cors of meal,
23 UDB ten head of cattle that had been raised in stalls, twenty head of cattle raised in pastures, one hundred sheep, grain-fed poultry, and wild game: deer, gazelle, and roebucks. BSB BSB: ten fat oxen, twenty range oxen, and a hundred sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened poultry.
24 UDB Solomon ruled over all the area west of the Euphrates River, from the city of Tiphsah in the northeast to the city of Gaza in the southwest. He ruled over all the kings in that area. There was peace between his government and the governments of nearby countries. BSB BSB: For Solomon had dominion over everything west of the Euphrates—over all the kingdoms from Tiphsah to Gaza—and he had peace on all sides.
25 UDB All during the years that Solomon ruled, the people of Judah and Israel lived safely. BSB BSB: Throughout the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel dwelt securely from Dan to Beersheba, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree.
26 UDB Solomon had forty thousand stalls for the horses that pulled his chariots and twelve thousand men who rode on horses. BSB BSB: Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses and 12,000 horses.
27 UDB His twelve district 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 that Solomon required. BSB BSB: Each month the governors in turn provided food for King Solomon and all who came to his table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking.
28 UDB They also brought stalks of barley and wheat for the fast horses that pulled the chariots and for the other work horses. They brought this fodder to the places where the horses were kept. BSB BSB: Each one also brought to the required place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and other horses.
Solomon’s Wisdom 29 UDB God enabled Solomon to be extremely wise and to have great understanding. He enjoyed learning about a great number of things. BSB BSB: And God gave Solomon wisdom, exceedingly deep insight, and understanding beyond measure, like the sand on the seashore.
30 UDB He was wiser than all the wise men in the regions east of Israel and all the wise men in Egypt. BSB BSB: Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.
31 UDB Ethan from Ezrah and Heman and Kalkol 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. BSB BSB: He was wiser than all men—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and wiser than Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread throughout the surrounding nations.
32 UDB He composed more than one thousand songs. BSB BSB: Solomon composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five.
33 UDB 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, birds, reptiles, and fish. BSB BSB: He spoke of trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing in the wall, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish.
34 UDB 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. BSB BSB: So men of all nations came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.