Solomon Turns from God

11 Now ^(A)King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, ² from the nations of which the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, “^(B)You shall not ^[a]associate with them, nor shall they ^[b]associate with you; they will certainly turn your heart away ^[c]to follow their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. ^3 (C)He had seven hundred wives, who were ^[d]princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned his heart away. ⁴ For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away ^[e]to follow other gods; and ^(D)his heart was not ^[f]wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of his father David had been. ⁵ For Solomon became a follower of ^(E)Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and of ^[g](F)Milcom the abhorrent idol of the Ammonites. ⁶ So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as his father David had done. ⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for ^(G)Chemosh, the abhorrent idol of Moab, on the mountain that is ^[h]east of Jerusalem, and for ^(H)Molech, the abhorrent idol of the sons of Ammon. ⁸ He also did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

⁹ Now ^(I)the Lord was angry with Solomon ^(J)because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(K)who had appeared to him twice, ¹⁰ and ^(L)had commanded him regarding this thing, that he was not to follow other gods; but he did not comply with what the Lord had commanded. ¹¹ So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since ^[i]you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, ^(M)I will certainly tear the kingdom away from you, and will give it to your servant. ¹² However, I will not do it in your days, only for the sake of your father David; but I will tear it away from the hand of your son. ¹³ Yet ^(N)I will not tear away all the kingdom, but ^(O)I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and ^(P)for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

God Raises Adversaries

¹⁴ Then the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the ^[j]royal line in Edom.

²¹ But ^(A)when Hadad heard in Egypt that David ^[a]lay down with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me go, so that I may go to my own country.” ²² However, Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me that you are here, requesting to go to your own country?” And he answered, “Nothing; nevertheless you must let me go.”

^23 (B)God also raised up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master ^(C)Hadadezer, king of Zobah. ²⁴ And he gathered men to himself and became leader of a marauding band, ^(D)after David killed those of Zobah; and they went to Damascus and stayed ^[b]there, and reigned in Damascus. ²⁵ So he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, along with the harm that Hadad inflicted; and he felt disgust for Israel and reigned over Aram.

²⁶ Then ^(E)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, ^(F)also ^[c]rebelled against the king. ²⁷ Now this was the reason why he ^[d]rebelled against the king: ^(G)Solomon built the ^[e]Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of his father David. ²⁸ Now the man Jeroboam was a valiant warrior, and when ^(H)Solomon saw that the young man was ^[f]industrious, he appointed him over all the ^[g]forced labor of the house of Joseph. ²⁹ And it came about at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that ^(I)the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now ^[h]Ahijah had clothed himself with a new cloak; and both of them were alone in the field. ³⁰ Then ^(J)Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which was on him and tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹ And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces; for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, ^(K)I am going to tear the kingdom away from the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes ³² (^(L)but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, ^(M)the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel), ³³ because they have abandoned Me, and ^(N)have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, ^(O)Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways, doing what is right in My sight and keeping My statutes and My ordinances, as his father David did. ³⁴ Nevertheless I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of My servant David whom I chose, who kept My commandments and My statutes; ³⁵ but ^(P)I will take the kingdom from his son’s hand and give it to you; that is, ten tribes. ³⁶ But ^(Q)to his son I will give one tribe, ^(R)so that My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, ^(S)the city where I have chosen for Myself to put My name. ³⁷ However I will take you, and you shall reign over all that ^[i]you desire, and you shall be king over Israel. ³⁸ Then it shall be, that if you listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight by keeping My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then ^(T)I will be with you and ^(U)build you an enduring house as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. ³⁹ So I will oppress the ^[j]descendants of David for this, but not always.’” ⁴⁰ Solomon sought therefore to put Jeroboam to death; but Jeroboam set out and fled to Egypt to ^(V)Shishak king of Egypt, and he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.