Solomon’s Princes

¹So King Solomon ruled over Israel,

²and these were his chief officials:Azariah son of Zadok was the priest;

³Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha,were secretaries;Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;

⁴Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of the army;Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

⁵Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the governors;Zabud son of Nathan was a priest and adviser to the king;

⁶Ahishar was in charge of the palace;and Adoniramson of Abda was in charge of the forced labor.

Solomon’s Twelve Officers

⁷Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel to provide food for the king and his household. Each one would arrange provisions for one month of the year,

⁸and these were their names:Ben-hur in the hill country of Ephraim;

⁹Ben-deker in Makaz, in Shaalbim, in Beth-shemesh, and in Elon-beth-hanan;

¹⁰Ben-hesed in Arubboth (Socoh and all the land of Hepher belonged to him);

¹¹Ben-abinadab in Naphath-dor(Taphath, a daughter of Solomon, was his wife);

¹²Baana son of Ahilud in Taanach, in Megiddo, and in all of Beth-shean next to Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah and on past Jokmeam;

¹³Ben-geber in Ramoth-gilead (the villages of Jair son of Manasseh in Gilead belonged to him, as well as the region of Argob in Bashan with its sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars);

¹⁴Ahinadab son of Iddo in Mahanaim;

¹⁵Ahimaaz in Naphtali (he had married Basemath, a daughter of Solomon);

¹⁶Baana son of Hushai in Asher and in Aloth;

¹⁷Jehoshaphat son of Paruah in Issachar;

¹⁸Shimei son of Ela in Benjamin;

¹⁹Geber son of Uri in the land of Gilead, including the territories of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan.There was also one governor in the land of Judah.

Solomon’s Prosperity

²⁰The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.

²¹And Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the Euphratesto the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These kingdoms offered tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

²²Solomon’s provisions for a single day were thirty cors of fine flour,sixty cors of meal,

²³ten fat oxen, twenty range oxen, and a hundred sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened poultry.

²⁴For Solomon had dominion over everything west of the Euphrates—over all the kingdoms from Tiphsah to Gaza—and he had peace on all sides.

²⁵Throughout the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel dwelt securely from Dan to Beersheba, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree.

²⁶Solomon had 4,000stalls for his chariot horses and 12,000 horses.

²⁷Each month the governors in turn provided food for King Solomon and all who came to his table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking.

²⁸Each one also brought to the required place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and other horses.

Solomon’s Wisdom

²⁹And God gave Solomon wisdom, exceedingly deep insight, and understanding beyond measure, like the sand on the seashore.

³⁰Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.

³¹He was wiser than all men—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and wiser than Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread throughout the surrounding nations.

³²Solomon composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five.

³³He spoke of trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing in the wall, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish.

³⁴So men of all nations came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

Jacob Flees from Laban

¹Now Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken away all that belonged to our father and built all this wealth at our father’s expense.”

²And Jacob saw from the countenance of Laban that his attitude toward him had changed.

³Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”

⁴So Jacob sent word and called Rachel and Leah to the field where his flocks were,

⁵and he told them, “I can see from your father’s countenance that his attitude toward me has changed; but the God of my father has been with me.

⁶You know that I have served your father with all my strength.

⁷And although he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, God has not allowed him to harm me.

⁸If he said, ‘The speckled will be your wages,’ then the whole flock bore speckled offspring. If he said, ‘The streaked will be your wages,’ then the whole flock bore streaked offspring.

⁹Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me.

¹⁰When the flocks were breeding, I saw in a dream that the streaked, spotted, and speckled males were mating with the females.

¹¹In that dream the angelof God said to me, ‘Jacob!’And I replied, ‘Here I am.’

¹²‘Look up,’ he said, ‘and see that all the males that are mating with the flock are streaked, spotted, or speckled; for I have seen all that Laban has done to you.

¹³I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and made a solemn vow to Me. Now get up, leave this land at once, and return to your native land.’”

¹⁴And Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we have any portion or inheritance left in our father’s house?

¹⁵Are we not regarded by him as outsiders? Not only has he sold us, but he has certainly squandered what was paid for us.

¹⁶Surely all the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So do whatever God has told you.”

¹⁷Then Jacob got up and put his children and his wives on camels,

¹⁸and he drove all his livestock before him, along with all the possessions he had acquired in Paddan-aram,to go to his father Isaac in the land in Canaan.

¹⁹Now while Laban was out shearing his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols.

²⁰Moreover, Jacob deceivedLaban the Aramean by not telling him that he was running away.

²¹So he fled with all his possessions, crossed the Euphrates,and headed for the hill country of Gilead.

Laban Pursues Jacob

²²On the third day Laban was informed that Jacob had fled.

²³So he took his relatives with him, pursued Jacob for seven days, and overtook him in the hill country of Gilead.

²⁴But that night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”

²⁵Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there as well.

²⁶Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and carried off my daughters like captives of war!

²⁷Why did you run away secretly and deceive me, without even telling me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and harps.

²⁸But you did not even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. Now you have done a foolish thing.

²⁹I have power to do you great harm, but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’

³⁰Now you have gone off because you long for your father’s house. But why have you stolen my gods?”

³¹“I was afraid,” Jacob answered, “for I thought you would take your daughters from me by force.

³²If you find your gods with anyone here, he shall not live! In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself if anything is yours, and take it back.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols.

³³So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, then Leah’s tent, and then the tents of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent.

³⁴Now Rachel had taken Laban’s household idols, put them in the saddlebag of her camel, and was sitting on them. And Laban searched everything in the tent but found nothing.

³⁵Rachel said to her father, “Sir, do not be angry that I cannot stand up before you; for I am having my period.” So Laban searched but could not find the household idols.

³⁶Then Jacob became incensed and challenged Laban. “What is my crime?” he said. “For what sin of mine have you so hotly pursued me?

³⁷You have searched all my goods! Have you found anything that belongs to you? Put it here before my brothers and yours, that they may judge between the two of us.

³⁸I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flock.

³⁹I did not bring you anything torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or night.

⁴⁰As it was, the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes.

⁴¹Thus for twenty years I have served in your household—fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks—and you have changed my wages ten times!

⁴²If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, surely by now you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, and last night He rendered judgment.”

Jacob’s Covenant with Laban

⁴³But Laban answered Jacob, “These daughters are my daughters, these sons are my sons, and these flocks are my flocks! Everything you see is mine! Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine or the children they have borne?

⁴⁴Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between you and me.”

⁴⁵So Jacob picked out a stone and set it up as a pillar,

⁴⁶and he said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and made a mound, and there by the mound they ate.

⁴⁷Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.

⁴⁸Then Laban declared, “This mound is a witness between you and me this day.”Therefore the place was called Galeed.

⁴⁹It was also called Mizpah,because Laban said, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are absent from each other.

⁵⁰If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives, although no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.”

⁵¹Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is the mound, and here is the pillar I have set up between you and me.

⁵²This mound is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this mound to harm you, and you will not go past this mound and pillar to harm me.

⁵³May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.”So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.

⁵⁴Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat a meal. And after they had eaten, they spent the night on the mountain.

⁵⁵Early the next morning, Laban got up and kissed his grandchildren and daughters and blessed them. Then he left to return home.

The Dreams of Pharaoh

¹After two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing beside the Nile,

²when seven cows, sleek and well-fed, came up from the river and began to graze among the reeds.

³After them, seven other cows, sickly and thin, came up from the Nile and stood beside the well-fed cows on the bank of the river.

⁴And the cows that were sickly and thin devoured the seven sleek, well-fed cows.Then Pharaoh woke up,

⁵but he fell back asleep and dreamed a second time: Seven heads of grain, plump and ripe, came up on one stalk.

⁶After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted, thin and scorched by the east wind.

⁷And the thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven plump, ripe ones. Then Pharaoh awoke and realized it was a dream.

⁸In the morning his spirit was troubled, so he summoned all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.

⁹Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I recall my failures.

¹⁰Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he put me and the chief baker in the custody of the captain of the guard.

¹¹One night both the chief baker and I had dreams, and each dream had its own meaning.

¹²Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams and he interpreted them for us individually.

¹³And it happened to us just as he had interpreted: I was restored to my position, and the other man was hanged.”

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dreams

¹⁴So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, who was quickly brought out of the dungeon. After he had shaved and changed his clothes, he went in before Pharaoh.

¹⁵Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”

¹⁶“I myself cannot do it,” Joseph replied, “but God will give Pharaoh a sound answer.”

¹⁷Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile,

¹⁸when seven cows, well-fed and sleek, came up from the river and began to graze among the reeds.

¹⁹After them, seven other cows—sickly, ugly, and thin—came up. I have never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt!

²⁰Then the thin, ugly cows devoured the seven well-fed cows that were there first.

²¹When they had devoured them, however, no one could tell that they had done so; their appearance was as ugly as it had been before. Then I awoke.

²²In my dream I also saw seven heads of grain, plump and ripe, growing on a single stalk.

²³After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted—withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind.

²⁴And the thin heads of grain swallowed the seven plump ones.I told this dream to the magicians, but no one could explain it to me.”

²⁵At this, Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to do.

²⁶The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven ripe heads of grain are seven years. The dreams have the same meaning.

²⁷Moreover, the seven thin, ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind—they are seven years of famine.

²⁸It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.

²⁹Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt,

³⁰but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will devastate the land.

³¹The abundance in the land will not be remembered, since the famine that follows it will be so severe.

³²Moreover, because the dream was given to Pharaoh in two versions, the matter has been decreed by God, and He will carry it out shortly.

³³Now, therefore, Pharaoh should look for a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt.

³⁴Let Pharaoh take action and appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvestof Egypt during the seven years of abundance.

³⁵Under the authority of Pharaoh, let them collect all the excess food from these good years, that they may come and lay up the grain to be preserved as food in the cities.

³⁶This food will be a reserve for the land during the seven years of famine to come upon the land of Egypt. Then the country will not perish in the famine.”

Joseph Given Charge of Egypt

³⁷This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his officials.

³⁸So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, in whom the Spirit of Godabides?”

³⁹Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.

⁴⁰You shall be in charge of my house, and all my people are to obey your commands. Only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you.”

⁴¹Pharaoh also told Joseph, “I hereby place you over all the land of Egypt.”

⁴²Then Pharaoh removed the signet ring from his finger, put it on Joseph’s finger, clothed him in garments of fine linen, and placed a gold chain around his neck.

⁴³He had Joseph ride in his second chariot, with men calling out before him, “Bow the knee!”So he placed him over all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁴And Pharaoh declared to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your permission, no one in all the land of Egypt shall lift his hand or foot.”

⁴⁵Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah,and he gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On,to be his wife. And Joseph took charge of all the land of Egypt.

The Seven Years of Plenty

⁴⁶Now Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph left Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout the land of Egypt.

⁴⁷During the seven years of abundance, the land brought forth bountifully.

⁴⁸During those seven years, Joseph collected all the excess food in the land of Egypt and stored it in the cities. In every city he laid up the food from the fields around it.

⁴⁹So Joseph stored up grain in such abundance, like the sand of the sea, that he stopped keeping track of it; for it was beyond measure.

⁵⁰Before the years of famine arrived, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.

⁵¹Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh,saying, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s household.”

⁵²And the second son he named Ephraim,saying, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

The Famine Begins

⁵³When the seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end,

⁵⁴the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. And although there was famine in every country, there was food throughout the land of Egypt.

⁵⁵When extreme hunger came to all the land of Egypt and the people cried out to Pharaoh for food, he told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.”

⁵⁶When the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened up all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians; for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.

⁵⁷And every nation came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.

The Joy of Forgiveness

¹Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven,whose sins are covered.

²Blessed is the manwhose iniquity the LORD does not count against him,in whose spirit there is no deceit.

³When I kept silent, my bones became brittlefrom my groaning all day long.

⁴For day and nightYour hand was heavy upon me;my strength was drainedas in the summer heat.Selah

⁵Then I acknowledged my sin to Youand did not hide my iniquity.I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”and You forgave the guilt of my sin.Selah

⁶Therefore let all the godly pray to Youwhile You may be found.Surely when great waters rise,they will not come near.

⁷You are my hiding place.You protect me from trouble;You surround me with songs of deliverance.Selah

⁸I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;I will give you counsel and watch over you.

⁹Do not be like the horse or mule,which have no understanding;they must be controlled with bit and bridleto make them come to you.

¹⁰Many are the sorrows of the wicked,but loving devotion surrounds him who trusts in the LORD.

¹¹Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous ones;shout for joy, all you upright in heart.