The Vanity of Wisdom

¹² I ^(A)the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

All Is Vanity

1 The words of ^(A)the Preacher,^[a] the son of David, ^(B)king in Jerusalem.

Solomon's Officials

4 King Solomon was king over all Israel, ² and these were his high officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was ^(A)the priest; ³ Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha were secretaries; ^(B)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; ^4 (C)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; ^(D)Zadok and Abiathar were priests; ⁵ Azariah the son of Nathan was over ^(E)the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and ^(F)king's friend; ⁶ Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and ^(G)Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of ^(H)the forced labor.

⁷ Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for one month in the year. ⁸ These were their names: Ben-hur, in ^(I)the hill country of Ephraim; ⁹ Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan; ¹⁰ Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher); ¹¹ Ben-abinadab, in all ^(J)Naphath-dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); ¹² Baana the son of Ahilud, in ^(K)Taanach, Megiddo, and all ^(L)Beth-shean that is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam; ¹³ Ben-geber, ^(M)in Ramoth-gilead (he had ^(N)the villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he had ^(O)the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars); ¹⁴ Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; ¹⁵ Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he had taken Basemath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); ¹⁶ Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; ¹⁷ Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; ^18 (P)Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; ¹⁹ Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, ^(Q)the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. And there was one governor who was over the land.