1 Kings 10:23-11:6

New International Version

²³ King Solomon was greater in riches^(A) and wisdom^(B) than all the other kings of the earth. ²⁴ The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom^(C) God had put in his heart. ²⁵ Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift^(D)—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.

²⁶ Solomon accumulated chariots and horses;^(E) he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses,^[a] which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. ²⁷ The king made silver as common^(F) in Jerusalem as stones,^(G) and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig^(H) trees in the foothills. ²⁸ Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue^[b]—the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. ²⁹ They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty.^[c] They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites^(I) and of the Arameans.

Solomon’s Wives

11 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women^(J) besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites,^(K) Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. ² They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry^(L) with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. ³ He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines,^(M) and his wives led him astray.^{(N) 4} As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods,^(O) and his heart was not fully devoted^(P) to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. ⁵ He followed Ashtoreth^(Q) the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek^(R) the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁶ So Solomon did evil^(S) in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.