Ecclesiastes 5:9

¹⁶The heavens are the LORD’s heavens, but he has given the earth to the children of men.

⁷Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for a month in the year. ⁸These are their names: Ben Hur, in the hill country of Ephraim; ⁹Ben Deker, in Makaz, in Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan; ¹⁰Ben Hesed, in Arubboth (Socoh and all the land of Hepher belonged to him); ¹¹Ben Abinadab, in all the height of Dor (he had Taphath, Solomon’s daughter, as wife); ¹²Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth Shean which is beside Zarethan, beneath Jezreel, from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah, as far as beyond Jokmeam; ¹³Ben Geber, in Ramoth Gilead (the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, belonged to him; and the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars, belonged to him); ¹⁴Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; ¹⁵Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon as wife); ¹⁶Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; ¹⁷Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; ¹⁸Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; ¹⁹Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer who was in the land.

²⁰Judah and Israel were numerous as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry. ²¹Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. ²²Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty cors²³ten head of fat cattle, twenty head of cattle out of the pastures, and one hundred sheep, in addition to deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl.

²⁹God said, “Behold, ^[+] I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food. ³⁰To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so.

¹⁴He causes the grass to grow for the livestock, and plants for man to cultivate, that he may produce food out of the earth: ¹⁵wine that makes the heart of man glad, oil to make his face to shine, and bread that strengthens man’s heart.

²⁶Over those who did the work of the field for tillage of the ground was Ezri the son of Chelub. ²⁷Over the vineyards was Shimei the Ramathite. Over the increase of the vineyards for the wine cellars was Zabdi the Shiphmite. ²⁸Over the olive trees and the sycamore trees that were in the lowland was Baal Hanan the Gederite. Over the cellars of oil was Joash. ²⁹Over the herds that fed in Sharon was Shitrai the Sharonite. Over the herds that were in the valleys was Shaphat the son of Adlai. ³⁰Over the camels was Obil the Ishmaelite. Over the donkeys was Jehdeiah the Meronothite. Over the flocks was Jaziz the Hagrite. ³¹All these were the rulers of the property which was King David’s.

²³Know well the state of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds, ²⁴for riches are not forever, nor does the crown endure to all generations. ²⁵The hay is removed, and the new growth appears, the grasses of the hills are gathered in. ²⁶The lambs are for your clothing, and the goats are the price of a field. ²⁷There will be plenty of goats’ milk for your food, for your family’s food, and for the nourishment of your servant girls.

¹⁰As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who will come to us; but you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken.”

¹¹Likewise when all the Jews who were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and who were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ¹²then all the Jews returned out of all places where they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and gathered very much wine and summer fruits.

¹²He will appoint them to him for captains of thousands and captains of fifties; and he will assign some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest; and to make his instruments of war and the instruments of his chariots. ¹³He will take your daughters to be perfumers, to be cooks, and to be bakers. ¹⁴He will take your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, even your best, and give them to his servants. ¹⁵He will take one tenth of your seed and of your vineyards, and give it to his officers and to his servants. ¹⁶He will take your male servants, your female servants, your best young men, and your donkeys, and assign them to his own work. ¹⁷He will take one tenth of your flocks; and you will be his servants.

²³An abundance of food is in poor people’s fields, but injustice sweeps it away.

¹⁹One who works his land will have an abundance of food; but one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.