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21 (A)Solomon's kingdom included all the nations from the Euphrates River to Philistia and the Egyptian border. They paid him taxes and were subject to him all his life.

22 The supplies Solomon needed each day were 150 bushels of fine flour and 300 bushels of meal; 23 10 stall-fed cattle, 20 pasture-fed cattle, and 100 sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and poultry.

24 Solomon ruled over all the land west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah on the Euphrates as far west as the city of Gaza. All the kings west of the Euphrates were subject to him, and he was at peace with all the neighboring countries. 25 As long as he lived, the people throughout Judah and Israel lived in safety, each family with its own grapevines and fig trees.

26 (B)Solomon had forty thousand stalls for his chariot horses and twelve thousand cavalry horses. 27 His twelve governors, each one in the month assigned to him, supplied the food King Solomon needed for himself and for all who ate in the palace; they always supplied everything needed. 28 Each governor also supplied his share of barley and straw, where it was needed,[a] for the chariot horses and the work animals.

29 God gave Solomon unusual wisdom and insight, and knowledge too great to be measured. 30 Solomon was wiser than the wise men of the East or the wise men of Egypt. 31 (C)He was the wisest of all men: wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame spread throughout all the neighboring countries. 32 (D)He composed three thousand proverbs and more than a thousand songs.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 4:28 where it was needed; or wherever King Solomon was.

21 And Solomon ruled(A) over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River(B) to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.(C) These countries brought tribute(D) and were Solomon’s subjects all his life.

22 Solomon’s daily provisions(E) 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.(F) 24 For he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah(G) to Gaza, and had peace(H) on all sides. 25 During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba,(I) lived in safety,(J) everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree.(K)

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

27 The district governors,(M) 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.

Solomon’s Wisdom

29 God gave Solomon wisdom(N) and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand(O) on the seashore. 30 Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East,(P) and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.(Q) 31 He was wiser(R) than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. 32 He spoke three thousand proverbs(S) and his songs(T) numbered a thousand and five.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 4:22 That is, probably about 5 1/2 tons or about 5 metric tons
  2. 1 Kings 4:22 That is, probably about 11 tons or about 10 metric tons
  3. 1 Kings 4:26 Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Chron. 9:25); Hebrew forty
  4. 1 Kings 4:26 Or charioteers