1 Kings 11

1 Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites;2 of the nations concerning which Jehovah said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God, as was the heart of David his father.5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.6 And Solomon did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and went not fully after Jehovah, as did David his father.7 Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, in the mount that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon.8 And so did he for all his foreign wives, who burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.

9 And Jehovah was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from Jehovah, the God of Israel, who had appeared unto him twice,10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which Jehovah commanded.11 Wherefore Jehovah said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.12 Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it, for David thy father’s sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.13 Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but I will give one tribe to thy son, for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen.

14 And Jehovah raised up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king’s seed in Edom.15 For it came to pass, when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain, and had smitten every male in Edom16 (for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom);17 that Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him, to go into Egypt, Hadad being yet a little child.18 And they arose out of Midian, and came to Paran; and they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, and appointed him victuals, and gave him land.19 And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him to wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.20 And the sister of Tahpenes bare him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh.21 And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go to mine own country.22 Then Pharaoh said unto him, But what hast thou lacked with me, that, behold, thou seekest to go to thine own country? And he answered, Nothing: howbeit only let me depart.

23 And God raised up another adversary unto him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah.24 And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a troop, when David slew them of Zobah: and they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus.25 And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, besides the mischief that Hadad did: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.

26 And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, he also lifted up his hand against the king.27 And this was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breach of the city of David his father.28 And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon saw the young man that he was industrious, and he gave him charge over all the labor of the house of Joseph.29 And it came to pass at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; now Ahijah had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field.30 And Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces.31 And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces; for thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee32 (but he shall have one tribe, for my servant David’s sake and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel);33 because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon; and they have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and mine ordinances, as did David his father.34 Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand; but I will make him prince all the days of his life, for David my servant’s sake whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes;35 but I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand, and will give it unto thee, even ten tribes.36 And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a lamp alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.37 And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.38 And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that which is right in mine eyes, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and will build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.39 And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever.40 Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam; but Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

41 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?42 And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

1 KINGS 11

Solomon Disobeys //the [Lord]

1-2  t The [Lord] did not want the Israelites to worship foreign gods, so he had warned them not to marry anyone who was not from Israel.
Solomon loved his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt. But he also loved some women from Moab, Ammon, and Edom, and others from Sidon and the land of the Hittites.

3-4 Seven hundred of his wives were daughters of kings, but he also married 300 other women.t
As Solomon got older, some of his wives led him to worship their gods. He wasn't like his father David, who had worshiped only the [Lord] God. 5 Solomon also worshiped Astarte the goddess of Sidon, and Milcom the disgusting god of Ammon.

6 Solomon's father had obeyed the [Lord] with all his heart, but Solomon disobeyed and did what the [Lord] hated.
7 Solomon built shrines on a hill east of Jerusalem to worship Chemosh the disgusting god of Moab, and Molech the disgusting god of Ammon.

8 In fact, he built a shrine for each of his foreign wives, so all of them could burn incense and offer sacrifices to their own gods.
9-10 The [Lord] God of Israel had appeared to Solomon two times and warned him not to worship foreign gods. But Solomon disobeyed and did it anyway. This made the [Lord] very angry,

11 and he said to Solomon:
You did what you wanted and not what I told you to do. Now I'm going to take your kingdom from you and give it to one of your officials. 12 But because David was your father, you will remain king as long as you live. I will wait until your son becomes king, then I will take the kingdom from him.

13 When I do, I will still let him rule one tribe, because I have not forgotten that David was my servant and Jerusalem is my chosen city.

Hadad Becomes an Enemy //of Solomon

14 Hadad was from the royal family of Edom, and here is how the [Lord] made him Solomon's enemy:

15-16 Some time earlier, when David conquered the nation of Edom, t Joab his army commander went there to bury those who had died in battle. Joab and his soldiers stayed in Edom six months, and during that time they killed every man and boy who lived there.
17-19 Hadad was a boy at the time, but he escaped to Midian with some of his father's officials. At Paran some other men joined them, and they went to the king of Egypt. The king liked Hadad and gave him food, some land, and a house, and even let him marry the sister of Queen Tahpenes.

20 Hadad and his wife had a son named Genubath, and the queen let the boy grow up in the palace with her own children.

21 When Hadad heard that David and Joab were dead, he said to the king, “Your Majesty, please let me go back to my own country.”

22 “Why?” asked the king. “Do you want something I haven't given you?”
“No, I just want to go home.”

Rezon Becomes an Enemy //of Solomon

23 Here is how God made Rezon son of Eliada an enemy of Solomon:
Rezon had run away from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah.

24-25 He formed his own small army and became its leader after David had defeated Hadadezer's troops.t Then Rezon and his army went to Damascus, where he became the ruler of Syria and an enemy of Israel.
Both Hadad and Rezon were enemies of Israel while Solomon was king, and they caused him a lot of trouble.

The [Lord] Makes a Promise //to Jeroboam

27 Here is how it happened:
While Solomon's workers were filling in the land on the east side of Jerusalemt and repairing the city walls,

28 Solomon noticed that Jeroboam was a hard worker. So he put Jeroboam in charge of the work force from Manasseh and Ephraim.
29-30 One day when Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, he met Ahijah, a prophet from Shiloh. No one else was anywhere around. Suddenly, Ahijah took off his new coat and ripped it into twelve pieces.

31 Then he said:
Jeroboam, take ten pieces of this coat and listen to what the [Lord] God of Israel says to you. “Jeroboam, I am the [Lord] God, and I am about to take Solomon's kingdom from him and give you ten tribes to rule.

32 But Solomon will still rule one tribe, t since he is the son of David my servant, and Jerusalem is my chosen city.

33 “Solomon and the Israelites are not like their ancestor David. They will not listen to me, obey me, or do what is right. They have turned from me to worship Astarte the goddess of Sidon, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of Ammon.
34 “Solomon is David's son, and David was my chosen leader, who did what I commanded. So I will let Solomon be king until he dies. 35 Then I will give you ten tribes to rule,

36 but Solomon's son will still rule one tribe. This way, my servant David will always have a descendant ruling in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to be worshiped.
37 “You will be king of Israel and will rule every nation you want.

38 I'll help you if you obey me. And if you do what I say, as my servant David did, I will always let someone from your family rule in Israel, just as someone from David's family will always rule in Judah. The nation of Israel will be yours.

39 “I will punish the descendants of David, but not forever.”

40 When Solomon learned what the [Lord] had told Jeroboam, Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. But he escaped to King Shishak of Egypt and stayed there until Solomon died.

Solomon Dies

(2 Chronicles 9.29-31)