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1 Kings

Starts with King Solomon's reign, his wisdom, and building the temple, then the kingdom dividing into Israel and Judah.

Chapter 4

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1 So king Solomon was king over all Israel.

*So, King Solomon ruled everyone in Israel.

2 And these were the princes which he had; Azariah the son of Zadok the priest,

*These were his leaders: Azariah, son of Zadok, who was a priest.

3 Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder.

*Elihoreph and Ahiah, who were Shisha's children and writers, along with Jehoshaphat, the recording keeper and son of Ahilud.

4 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests:

*Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, led the army, while Zadok and Abiathar were the priests.

5 And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers: and Zabud the son of Nathan was principal officer, and the king’s friend:

*Azariah, son of Nathan, led the officers. Zabud, also a son of Nathan, was the main officer and close friend to the king.

6 And Ahishar was over the household: and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the tribute.

*Ahishar managed the family, while Adoniram, son of Abda, handled the taxes.

7 And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, which provided victuals for the king and his household: each man his month in a year made provision.

*Solomon had 12 leaders who were responsible for providing food for the king and his family in Israel. Each leader took care of supplying food for one month every year.

8 And these are their names: The son of Hur, in mount Ephraim:

*This says: In a place called Mount Ephraim, there is a person whose dad's name is Hur, and his name is also mentioned.

9 The son of Dekar, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Bethshemesh, and Elonbethhanan:

*The child of Dekar was in the places called Makaz, Shaalbim, Bethshemesh, and Elonbethhanan.

10 The son of Hesed, in Aruboth; to him pertained Sochoh, and all the land of Hepher:

*In the town of Aruboth, there was a person named Son of Hesed. He owned a place called Sochoh, along with all the surrounding land of Hepher.

11 The son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor; which had Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife:

*Abinadab's son lived in the Dor area and married Taphath, Solomon's daughter.

12 Baana the son of Ahilud; to him pertained Taanach and Megiddo, and all Bethshean, which is by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Bethshean to Abelmeholah, even unto the place that is beyond Jokneam:

*Baana, son of Ahilud, had control over Taanach and Megiddo, including all Bethshean below Zartanah near Jezreel. This area stretched from Bethshean to Abelmeholah, up to the point beyond Jokneam.

13 The son of Geber, in Ramothgilead; to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; to him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brasen bars:

*In Ramothgilead lived a man from Geber's family. He owned towns that belonged to Jair, son of Manasseh, located in Gilead. He also possessed the region of Argob in Bashan, which had 60 large cities with walls and bronze gates.

14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo had Mahanaim:

*Ahinadab, son of Iddo, had a place called Mahanaim.

15 Ahimaaz was in Naphtali; he also took Basmath the daughter of Solomon to wife:

*Ahimaaz lived in the area called Naphtali. He married Basmath, who was Solomon's daughter.

16 Baanah the son of Hushai was in Asher and in Aloth:

*Baanah, son of Hushai, lived in the areas of Asher and Aloth.

17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar:

*Jehoshaphat, Paruah's son, from the area of Issachar.

18 Shimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin:

*Shimei, son of Elah, from the tribe of Benjamin.

19 Geber the son of Uri was in the country of Gilead, in the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer which was in the land.

*Geber, son of Uri, was in the land of Gilead. He was in the territory of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan. Geber was the only leader in that area.

20 Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.

*Judah and Israel had many people, like lots of sand near the sea, enjoying food, drinks, and having fun.

21 And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life.

*Solomon ruled over many countries from a river to the land of the Philistines and up to the edge of Egypt. People gave him gifts and served him throughout his entire life.

22 And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal,

*Solomon's food for one day included thirty portions of high-quality flour and sixty portions of regular flour.

23 Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and fallowdeer, and fatted fowl.

*Ten big cows, and twenty more cows from the fields, and one hundred sheep, along with deer, rabbits, and fat chickens.

24 For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him.

*He ruled everything on his side of the river, from Tiphsa to Azza, controlling all the kings there. He had peace everywhere around him.

25 And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

*Judah and Israel lived peacefully, with each person safe by their grape and fig trees. This was true everywhere from Dan to Beersheba during Solomon's entire reign.

26 And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.

*Solomon had 40,000 horse stalls for his chariots and 12,000 horse riders.

27 And those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon’s table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing.

*The officials supplied food for King Solomon and everyone who joined him at his meals, making sure each person had enough during their assigned time. They never ran out of anything.

28 Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.

*They brought barley and straw for the horses and camels to the officers' location, each person bringing what they were responsible for.

29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.

*God gave Solomon a lot of wisdom, understanding, and a big heart, just like the sand on the beach.

30 And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.

*Solomon was wiser than anyone else in the faraway lands and even smarter than everyone in Egypt.

31 For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about.

*He was smarter than everyone, even famous wise men like Ethan, Heman, Chalcol, and Darda from Mahol's family. People everywhere knew about how smart he was.

32 And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.

*He said three thousand wise sayings, and he had one thousand five hundred songs.

33 And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.

*He talked about different types of trees, from big ones like cedars in Lebanon to small ones like hyssops growing on walls. He also mentioned animals, birds, creatures that crawl, and fish.

34 And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.

*Many people, including kings who heard about his wisdom, came to listen to Solomon's wise words.

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