1 Kings 11

¹1 Kings 11:1. King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women.²1 Kings 11:2. These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love.³1 Kings 11:3. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines—and his wives turned his heart away.⁴1 Kings 11:4. For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.⁵1 Kings 11:5. Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.⁶1 Kings 11:6. So Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD; unlike his father David, he did not follow the LORD completely.⁷1 Kings 11:7. At that time on a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites.⁸1 Kings 11:8. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.⁹1 Kings 11:9. Now the LORD grew angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.¹⁰1 Kings 11:10. Although He had warned Solomon explicitly not to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD’s command.¹¹1 Kings 11:11. Then the LORD said to Solomon, “Because you have done this and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.¹²1 Kings 11:12. Nevertheless, for the sake of your father David, I will not do it during your lifetime; I will tear it out of the hand of your son.¹³1 Kings 11:13. Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom away from him. I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

¹⁴1 Kings 11:14. Then the LORD raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom.¹⁵1 Kings 11:15. Earlier, when David was in Edom, Joab the commander of the army had gone to bury the dead and had struck down every male in Edom.¹⁶1 Kings 11:16. Joab and all Israel had stayed there six months, until he had killed every male in Edom.¹⁷1 Kings 11:17. But Hadad, still just a young boy, had fled to Egypt, along with some Edomites who were servants of his father.¹⁸1 Kings 11:18. Hadad and his men set out from Midian and went to Paran. They took men from Paran with them and went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house and land and provided him with food.¹⁹1 Kings 11:19. There Hadad found such great favor in the sight of Pharaoh that he gave to him in marriage the sister of Queen Tahpenes, his own wife.²⁰1 Kings 11:20. And the sister of Tahpenes bore Hadad a son named Genubath. Tahpenes herself weaned him in Pharaoh’s palace, and Genubath lived there among the sons of Pharaoh.²¹1 Kings 11:21. When Hadad heard in Egypt that David had rested with his fathers and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead, he said to Pharaoh, “Let me go, that I may return to my own country.”²²1 Kings 11:22. But Pharaoh asked him, “What have you lacked here with me that you suddenly want to go back to your own country?” “Nothing,” Hadad replied, “but please let me go.”²³1 Kings 11:23. And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah,²⁴1 Kings 11:24. and had gathered men to himself. When David killed the Zobaites, Rezon captained a band of raiders and went to Damascus, where they settled and gained control.²⁵1 Kings 11:25. Rezon was Israel’s enemy throughout the days of Solomon, adding to the trouble caused by Hadad. So Rezon ruled over Aram with hostility toward Israel.²⁶1 Kings 11:26. Now Jeroboam son of Nebat was an Ephraimite from Zeredah whose mother was a widow named Zeruah. Jeroboam was a servant of Solomon, but he rebelled against the king,²⁷1 Kings 11:27. and this is the account of his rebellion against the king. Solomon had built the supporting terraces and repaired the gap in the wall of the city of his father David.²⁸1 Kings 11:28. Now Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor. So when Solomon noticed that the young man was industrious, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the house of Joseph.²⁹1 Kings 11:29. During that time, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met Jeroboam on the road as he was going out of Jerusalem. Now Ahijah had wrapped himself in a new cloak, and the two of them were alone in the open field.³⁰1 Kings 11:30. And Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing, tore it into twelve pieces,³¹1 Kings 11:31. and said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and I will give you ten tribes.³²1 Kings 11:32. But one tribe will remain for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.³³1 Kings 11:33. For they have forsaken Me to worship Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites. They have not walked in My ways, nor done what is right in My eyes, nor kept My statutes and judgments, as Solomon’s father David did.³⁴1 Kings 11:34. Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon’s hand, because I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David My servant, whom I chose because he kept My commandments and statutes.³⁵1 Kings 11:35. But I will take ten tribes of the kingdom from the hand of his son and give them to you.³⁶1 Kings 11:36. I will give one tribe to his son, so that My servant David will always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put My Name.³⁷1 Kings 11:37. But as for you, I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your heart desires, and you will be king over Israel.³⁸1 Kings 11:38. If you listen to all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight in order to keep My statutes and commandments as My servant David did, then I will be with you. I will build you a lasting dynasty just as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.³⁹1 Kings 11:39. Because of this, I will humble David’s descendants—but not forever.’”⁴⁰1 Kings 11:40. Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, where he remained until the death of Solomon.

⁴¹1 Kings 11:41. As for the rest of the acts of Solomon—all that he did, as well as his wisdom—are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon?⁴²1 Kings 11:42. Thus the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.⁴³1 Kings 11:43. And Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. And his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.