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1 Kings 11
New American Standard Bible

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. 15 For it came about, (Q)when David was in Edom and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury those killed in battle, and had (R)struck and killed every male in Edom 16 (for Joab and all Israel stayed there for six months, until he had eliminated every male in Edom), 17 that Hadad fled [k]to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him, while Hadad was a young boy. 18 They set out from Midian and came to (S)Paran; and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and assigned him food and gave him land. 19 Now Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. 20 And the sister of Tahpenes gave birth to his son Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh. 21 But (T)when Hadad heard in Egypt that David [l]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 (U)God also raised up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master (V)Hadadezer, king of Zobah. 24 And he gathered men to himself and became leader of a marauding band, (W)after David killed those of Zobah; and they went to Damascus and stayed [m]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 (X)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, (Y)also [n]rebelled against the king. 27 Now this was the reason why he [o]rebelled against the king: (Z)Solomon built the [p]Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of his father David. 28 Now the man Jeroboam was a valiant warrior, and when (AA)Solomon saw that the young man was [q]industrious, he appointed him over all the [r]forced labor of the house of Joseph. 29 And it came about at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that (AB)the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now [s]Ahijah had clothed himself with a new cloak; and both of them were alone in the field. 30 Then (AC)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, (AD)I am going to tear the kingdom away from the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes 32 ((AE)but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, (AF)the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel), 33 because they have abandoned Me, and (AG)have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, (AH)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 (AI)I will take the kingdom from his son’s hand and give it to you; that is, ten tribes. 36 But (AJ)to his son I will give one tribe, (AK)so that My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, (AL)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 [t]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 (AM)I will be with you and (AN)build you an enduring house as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39 So I will oppress the [u]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 (AO)Shishak king of Egypt, and he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

The Death of Solomon

41 (AP)Now the rest of the acts of Solomon and whatever he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? 42 So (AQ)the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. 43 Then Solomon [v](AR)lay down with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David, and his son (AS)Rehoboam reigned in his place.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 11:2 Lit go among
  2. 1 Kings 11:2 Lit go among
  3. 1 Kings 11:2 Lit after their
  4. 1 Kings 11:3 Or women of rank
  5. 1 Kings 11:4 Lit after other
  6. 1 Kings 11:4 Lit complete with
  7. 1 Kings 11:5 In Jer 49:1, 3, Malcam
  8. 1 Kings 11:7 Lit before
  9. 1 Kings 11:11 Lit this has happened with you
  10. 1 Kings 11:14 Lit king’s seed
  11. 1 Kings 11:17 Lit to go into
  12. 1 Kings 11:21 I.e., died
  13. 1 Kings 11:24 Lit in it
  14. 1 Kings 11:26 Lit lifted up a hand
  15. 1 Kings 11:27 Lit lifted up a hand
  16. 1 Kings 11:27 I.e., terraced structure
  17. 1 Kings 11:28 Lit a performer of work
  18. 1 Kings 11:28 Lit burden of
  19. 1 Kings 11:29 Lit he
  20. 1 Kings 11:37 Lit your soul desires
  21. 1 Kings 11:39 Lit seed
  22. 1 Kings 11:43 I.e., died
Close CEB

1 Kings 11
Common English Bible

Solomon meets God a third time

11 In addition to Pharaoh’s daughter, King Solomon loved many foreign women, including Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. 2 These came from the nations that the Lord had commanded the Israelites about: “Don’t intermarry with them. They will definitely turn your heart toward their gods.” Solomon clung to these women in love. 3 He had seven hundred royal wives and three hundred secondary wives. They turned his heart. 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods. He wasn’t committed to the Lord his God with all his heart as was his father David. 5 Solomon followed Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes and wasn’t completely devoted to the Lord like his father David. 7 On the hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a shrine to Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and to Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. 8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. 9 The Lord grew angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from being with the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10 The Lord had commanded Solomon about this very thing, that he shouldn’t follow other gods. But Solomon didn’t do what the Lord commanded.

11 The Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done all this instead of keeping my covenant and my laws that I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant. 12 Even so, on account of your father David, I won’t do it during your lifetime. I will tear the kingdom out of your son’s hands. 13 Moreover, I won’t tear away the entire kingdom. I will give one tribe to your son on account of my servant David and on account of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

Solomon and Hadad

14 So the Lord raised up an opponent for Solomon: Hadad the Edomite from the royal line of Edom. 15 When David was fighting against Edom, Joab the general had gone up to bury the Israelite dead, and he had killed every male in Edom. 16 Joab and all the Israelites stayed there six months, until he had finished off every male in Edom. 17 While still a youth, Hadad escaped to Egypt along with his father’s Edomite officials. 18 They set out from Midian and went to Paran. They took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt and to Pharaoh its king. Pharaoh assigned him a home, food, and land. 19 Pharaoh was so delighted with Hadad that he gave him one of his wife’s sisters for marriage, a sister of Queen Tahpenes. 20 This sister of Tahpenes bore Hadad a son, Genubath. Tahpenes weaned him in Pharaoh’s house. So it was that Genubath was raised in Pharaoh’s house, among Pharaoh’s children. 21 While in Egypt, Hadad heard that David had lain down with his ancestors and that Joab the general was also dead. Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me go to my homeland.”

22 Pharaoh said to him, “What do you lack here with me that would make you want to go back to your homeland?”

Hadad said, “Nothing, but please let me go!”

Solomon and Rezon

23 God raised up another opponent for Solomon: Rezon, Eliada’s son, who had escaped from Zobah’s King Hadadezer. 24 Rezon recruited men and became leader of a band when David was killing them. They went to Damascus, stayed there, and ruled it. 25 Throughout Solomon’s lifetime, Rezon was Israel’s opponent and added to the problems caused by Hadad. Rezon hated Israel while he ruled as king of Aram.

Solomon and Jeroboam

26 Now Nebat’s son Jeroboam was an Ephraimite from Zeredah. His mother’s name was Zeruah; she was a widow. Although he was one of Solomon’s own officials, Jeroboam fought against the king. 27 This is the story of why Jeroboam fought against the king:

Solomon had built the stepped structure and repaired the broken wall in his father David’s City. 28 Now Jeroboam was a strong and honorable man. Solomon saw how well this youth did his work. So he appointed him over all the work gang of Joseph’s house.

29 At that time, when Jeroboam left Jerusalem, Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh met him along the way. Ahijah was wearing a new garment. The two of them were alone in the country. 30 Ahijah tore his new garment into twelve pieces. 31 He said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces, because Israel’s God, the Lord, has said, ‘Look, I am about to tear the kingdom from Solomon’s hand. I will give you ten tribes. 32 But I will leave him one tribe on account of my servant David and on account of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel. 33 I am doing this because they have abandoned me[a] and worshipped the Sidonian goddess Astarte, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Milcom. They haven’t walked in my ways by doing what is right in my eyes—keeping my laws and judgments—as Solomon’s father David did. 34 But I won’t take the whole kingdom from his hand. I will keep him as ruler throughout his lifetime on account of my servant David, who did keep my commands and my laws. 35 I will take the kingdom from the hand of Solomon’s son, and I will give you ten tribes. 36 I will give his son a single tribe so that my servant David will always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city that I chose for myself to place my name. 37 But I will accept you, and you will rule over all that you could desire. You will be king of Israel. 38 If you listen to all that I command and walk in my ways, if you do what is right in my eyes, keeping my laws and my commands just as my servant David did, then I will be with you and I will build you a lasting dynasty just as I did for David. I will give you Israel. 39 I will humble David’s descendants by means of all this, though not forever.’”

40 Then Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam fled to Egypt and its king Shishak. Jeroboam remained in Egypt until Solomon died.

Solomon’s remaining days

41 The rest of Solomon’s deeds, including all that he did and all his wisdom, aren’t they written in the official records of Solomon? 42 The amount of time Solomon ruled over all Israel in Jerusalem was forty years. 43 Then Solomon lay down with his ancestors. He was buried in his father David’s City, and Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 11:33 LXX, Syr, Vulg he has abandoned me
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