16. Baana son of Hushai was in charge of the territory of Asher and the town of Bealoth.
17. Jehoshaphat son of Paruah was in charge of the territory of Issachar.
18. Shimei son of Ela was in charge of the territory of Benjamin.
19. Geber son of Uri was in charge of Gilead, where King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan had lived.And one officer was in charge of the territory of Judah.
20. There were so many people living in Judah and Israel while Solomon was king that they seemed like grains of sand on a beach. Everyone had enough to eat and drink, and they were happy.
21. Solomon ruled every kingdom between the River Euphrates and the land of the Philistines down to Egypt. These kingdoms paid him taxes as long as he lived.
22. Every day, Solomon needed five thousand litres of fine flour, ten thousand litres of coarsely-ground flour,
23. ten grain-fed cattle, twenty pasture-fed cattle, one hundred sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, and geese.
24. Solomon ruled the whole region west of the River Euphrates, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and he was at peace with all the countries around him.
25. Everyone living in Israel, from the town of Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, was safe as long as Solomon lived. Each family sat undisturbed beneath its own grapevines and fig trees.
26. Solomon had forty thousand stalls of chariot horses and twelve thousand chariot soldiers.
27. Each of the twelve regional officers brought food to Solomon and his household for one month of the year. They provided everything he needed,
28. as well as barley and straw for the horses.
29. Solomon was brilliant. God had blessed him with insight and understanding.
30-31. He was wiser than anyone else in the world, including the wisest people of the east and of Egypt. He was even wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Mahol's three sons, Heman, Calcol, and Darda. Solomon became famous in every country around Judah and Israel.
32. Solomon wrote three thousand wise sayings and composed more than a thousand songs.
33. He could talk about all kinds of plants, from large trees to small bushes, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish.
34. Kings all over the world heard about Solomon's wisdom and sent people to listen to him teach.