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.

King Rehoboam Acts Foolishly

12 ^(AT)Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all Israel had come to ^(AU)Shechem to make him king. ² Now ^(AV)when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard about this, ^[w]he was living in Egypt (for he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon). ³ Then they sent word and summoned him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ “^(AW)Your father made our yoke hard; but now, lighten the hard labor imposed by your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” ⁵ Then he said to them, “^(AX)Depart ^[x]for three days, then return to me.” So the people departed.

⁶ And King Rehoboam ^(AY)consulted with the elders who had ^[y]served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” ⁷ Then they spoke to him, saying, “^(AZ)If you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them and ^[z]grant them their request, and speak pleasant words to them, then they will be your servants always.” ⁸ But he ignored the advice of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who had grown up with him ^[aa]and served him. ⁹ He said to them, “What advice do you give, so that we may answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?” ¹⁰ And the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “This is what you should say to this people who spoke to you, saying: ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, now you make it lighter for us!’ You should speak this way to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist! ¹¹ Now then, my father loaded you with a heavy yoke; yet I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with ^[ab]scorpions!’”

¹² Then Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had ^[ac]directed, saying, “^(BA)Return to me on the third day.” ¹³ And the king answered the people harshly, for he ignored the advice of the elders which they had ^[ad]given him, ¹⁴ and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “^(BB)My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with ^[ae]scorpions!” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people; ^(BC)because it was ^[af]a turn of events from the Lord, ^(BD)in order to establish His word which the Lord spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

The Kingdom Divided; Jeroboam Rules Israel

¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king had not listened to them, the people replied to the king, saying,

So Israel went away to their tents. ¹⁷ But ^(BF)as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. ¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent ^(BG)Adoram, who was in charge of the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him ^[ag]to death. And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. ^19 (BH)So Israel has broken with the house of David to this day.

The Conversion of Saul

9 ^(A)Now ^[a]Saul, still ^(B)breathing ^[b]threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, ² and asked for ^(C)letters from him to ^(D)the synagogues in ^(E)Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to ^[c](F)the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them in shackles to Jerusalem. ³ Now as he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and ^(G)suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; ⁴ and ^(H)he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” ⁵ And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, ⁶ but get up and enter the city, and ^(I)it will be told to you what you must do.” ⁷ The men who traveled with him ^(J)stood speechless, ^(K)hearing the ^[d]voice but seeing no one. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground, and ^(L)though his eyes were open, he ^[e]could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into ^(M)Damascus. ⁹ And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰ Now there was a disciple in ^(N)Damascus named ^(O)Ananias; and the Lord said to him in ^(P)a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” ¹¹ And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from ^(Q)Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, ¹² and he has seen ^[f]in a vision a man named Ananias come in and ^(R)lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.” ¹³ But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, ^(S)how much harm he did to ^(T)Your ^[g]saints in Jerusalem; ¹⁴ and here he ^(U)has authority from the chief priests to ^[h]arrest all who ^(V)call on Your name.” ¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go, for ^(W)he is a chosen ^[i]instrument of Mine, to bear My name before ^(X)the Gentiles and ^(Y)kings and the sons of Israel; ¹⁶ for ^(Z)I will show him how much he must suffer in behalf of My name.” ¹⁷ So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after ^(AA)laying his hands on him said, “^(AB)Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be ^(AC)filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ And immediately something like fish scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; ¹⁹ and he took food and was strengthened.

Saul Begins to Preach Christ

Now ^(AD)for several days he was with ^(AE)the disciples who were in Damascus, ²⁰ and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus ^(AF)in the synagogues, ^[j]saying, “He is ^(AG)the Son of God.” ²¹ All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not the one who in Jerusalem ^(AH)destroyed those who ^(AI)called on this name, and had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” ²² But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the ^[k]Christ.

²³ When ^(AJ)many days had elapsed, ^(AK)the Jews plotted together to do away with him, ²⁴ but ^(AL)their plot became known to Saul. ^(AM)They were also closely watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; ²⁵ but his disciples took him at night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.

Childlike Trust in the Lord.

A Song of Ascents, of David.