Solomon’s Officials and Governors

4 So King Solomon ruled over all Israel. ² And these were his chief officials:^(A)

⁷ Solomon had twelve district governors^(J) over all Israel, who supplied provisions for the king and the royal household. Each one had to provide supplies for one month in the year. ⁸ These are their names:

Solomon’s Daily Provisions

²⁰ The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand^(AD) on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy.^{(AE) 21} And Solomon ruled^(AF) over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River^(AG) to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.^(AH) These countries brought tribute^(AI) and were Solomon’s subjects all his life.

²² Solomon’s daily provisions^(AJ) were thirty cors^[a] of the finest flour and sixty cors^[b] of meal, ²³ ten head of stall-fed cattle, twenty of pasture-fed cattle and a hundred sheep and goats, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks and choice fowl.^{(AK) 24} For he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah^(AL) to Gaza, and had peace^(AM) on all sides. ²⁵ During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba,^(AN) lived in safety,^(AO) everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree.^(AP)

²⁶ Solomon had four^[c] thousand stalls for chariot horses,^(AQ) and twelve thousand horses.^[d]

²⁷ The district governors,^(AR) each in his month, supplied provisions for King Solomon and all who came to the king’s table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking. ²⁸ They also brought to the proper place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and the other horses.

¹⁴ Solomon accumulated chariots^(A) and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses,^[a] which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. ¹⁵ The king made silver and gold^(B) as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. ¹⁶ Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue^[b]—the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. ¹⁷ They imported a chariot^(C) from Egypt for six hundred shekels^[c] of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty.^[d] They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.

¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.^{(A) 11} He has made everything beautiful in its time.^(B) He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet^[a] no one can fathom^(C) what God has done from beginning to end.^{(D) 12} I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. ¹³ That each of them may eat and drink,^(E) and find satisfaction^(F) in all their toil—this is the gift of God.^{(G) 14} I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.^(H)

¹⁸ This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink^(A) and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor^(B) under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. ¹⁹ Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions,^(C) and the ability to enjoy them,^(D) to accept their lot^(E) and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God.^{(F) 20} They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.^(G)

¹⁰ When you have eaten and are satisfied,^(A) praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. ¹¹ Be careful that you do not forget^(B) the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. ¹² Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down,^{(C) 13} and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart will become proud and you will forget^(D) the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹⁵ He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness,^(E) that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes^(F) and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.^{(G) 16} He gave you manna^(H) to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known,^(I) to humble and test^(J) you so that in the end it might go well with you. ¹⁷ You may say to yourself,^(K) “My power and the strength of my hands^(L) have produced this wealth for me.” ¹⁸ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth,^(M) and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

¹⁶ The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses^(A) for himself^(B) or make the people return to Egypt^(C) to get more of them,^(D) for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”^{(E) 17} He must not take many wives,^(F) or his heart will be led astray.^(G) He must not accumulate^(H) large amounts of silver and gold.^(I)