1 Kings 11

The AIT Bible

Solomon's Foreign Wives

1Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh — Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women —

2from the nations of which Yahweh had said to the sons of Israel, ‘You shall not go among them, and they shall not come among you, for surely they will turn your heart after their gods.’ To these Solomon clung in love.

3He had seven hundred wives who were princesses and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned aside his heart.

4And it happened at the time of Solomon’s old age that his wives turned aside his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly with Yahweh his God, as was the heart of David his father.

5So Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the detestable thing of the Ammonites.

6And Solomon did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and he did not fully follow Yahweh as David his father had done.

7Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable thing of Moab, on the mountain that faces Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable thing of the sons of Ammon.

8And so he did for all his foreign wives, who were offering incense and sacrificing to their gods.

Yahweh's Judgment on Solomon

9And Yahweh became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned aside from Yahweh, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,

10and had commanded him concerning this very matter, not to go after other gods; but he did not keep what Yahweh had commanded.

11So Yahweh said to Solomon, ‘Because this has been with you, and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.

12Only in your days I will not do it, for the sake of David your father; from the hand of your son I will tear it away.

13Yet I will not tear away all the kingdom; one tribe I will give to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.

The Adversary Hadad

14Then Yahweh raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the royal offspring in Edom.

15For it happened, when David was at war with Edom and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, that he struck down every male in Edom.

16For six months Joab remained there with all Israel, until he had cut off every male in Edom.

17But Hadad fled, he and certain Edomite men from among his father’s servants with him, to go to Egypt; and Hadad was a young boy.

18They set out from Midian and came to Paran, and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, appointed him rations, and gave him land.

19And Hadad found great favor in the eyes of Pharaoh, so that he gave him as wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.

20And the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, and Tahpenes weaned him in the midst of Pharaoh’s house; so Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh.

21Now when Hadad heard in Egypt that David had lain down with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, ‘Send me away, that I may go to my own land.’

22But Pharaoh said to him, ‘What are you lacking with me, that now you are seeking to go to your own land?’ And he said, ‘Nothing; only do send me away.’

The Adversary Rezon

23And God raised up against him another adversary, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from Hadadezer king of Zobah his lord.

24He gathered men to himself and became the commander of a raiding band, when David killed them; and they went to Damascus, settled in it, and reigned in Damascus.

25He was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, besides the trouble that Hadad caused; he loathed Israel and reigned over Aram.

Ahijah's Prophecy to Jeroboam

26Also Jeroboam son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow woman — a servant of Solomon — raised his hand against the king.

27And this is the matter of how he raised his hand against the king: Solomon had built the Millo and had closed up the breach of the city of David his father.

28Now the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and when Solomon saw that the young man did his work well, he appointed him over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph.

29And it happened at that time, when Jeroboam had gone out from Jerusalem, that Ahijah the Shilonite, the prophet, met him on the road; now he was clothed in a new cloak, and the two of them were alone in the open country.

30And Ahijah took hold of the new cloak that was on him and tore it into twelve pieces.

31And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am tearing the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and I will give to you ten tribes.’”

32But the one tribe will be his, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.

33because they have forsaken me and bowed down to Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, to Chemosh the god of Moab, and to Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon, and they have not walked in my ways, to do what is right in my eyes and my statutes and my judgments, as David his father did.

34Yet I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him prince all the days of his life, for the sake of David my servant whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes.

35But I will take the kingship out of the hand of his son and give it to you—the ten tribes.

36And to his son I will give one tribe, so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city that I chose for myself to put my name there.

37And you I will take, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel.

38And it shall be, if you listen to all that I command you and walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes, keeping my statutes and my commandments as David my servant did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.

39And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not for all time.”

40Then Solomon sought to put Jeroboam to death, but Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and he remained in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

The Death of Solomon

41Now 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?

42And the days that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel were forty years.

43And Solomon lay down with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

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