We read the Bible differently. Even the greatest national leaders in the Bible, including David and Solomon, were swayed from righteousness. Despite being flawed men, they did God's work, and I consider that a major point that the Bible was meant to convey.
As for the "imperfect translation", I've read the Greek and the Aramaic. The familiar translations have no serious errors. There are subtle shadings of meaning that can be debated, but the NIV, KJV, and the other standard translations say what the original said. I read "40 days in the wilderness" as 40 literal days in the wilderness - a common rite of passage in a spiritual journey.
Well if my good friend did not run off to the Philipines to avoid this government, he could have pointed out at least a few dozen errors in translation from the original text. He finds them everytime he looks for em. He went out there to preach the good word. What I see is a society corrupted by debt based currency. Are we going for 100 trillion short term ?