1 Kings 11
Evangelical Heritage Version
Solomon’s Sin and God’s Judgment
11 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter, including Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. 2 They came from the nations about which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You must not enter into marriage with them, and they must not enter into marriage with you, or they will turn your hearts after other gods.” Solomon clung to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives who held the rank of princess and three hundred concubines. So they turned his heart away.
4 When Solomon became old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, so that his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord as the heart of his father David had been. 5 Then Solomon followed Ashtarte, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did not devote himself to the Lord as his father David had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, on the hill east of Jerusalem and for Molek,[a] the detestable god of the Ammonites. 8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and making sacrifices to their gods.
9 So the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10 The Lord had given him the command not to follow other gods, but Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command.
11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “Because this is your attitude, and because you did not keep my covenant and my statutes which I commanded you, I will surely rip the kingdom out of your hands and give it to your servant. 12 However, I will not do it during your lifetime because of your father David. I will rip it from your son’s hand. 13 But I will not rip away the whole kingdom. One tribe I will give to your son for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”
God Raises Foreign Enemies to Oppose Solomon
14 Then the Lord raised up Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom, as an adversary for Solomon. 15 Earlier, while David was at war with Edom, when Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the dead, he struck down every male in Edom. 16 For six months Joab and all Israel stayed there until he exterminated every male in Edom. 17 But while Hadad was a young boy, he had fled with some Edomites from among his father’s servants to go to Egypt. 18 So they set out from Midian and went to Paran. They took some men with them from Paran and went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt. He gave Hadad a house and decreed an allowance of food for him and gave him land.
19 Hadad found great favor in the eyes of Pharaoh, so Pharaoh gave him the sister of his own wife, the sister of Queen Tahpenes, as his wife. 20 The sister of Tahpenes bore him a son named Genubath. Tahpenes weaned him in the house of Pharaoh, so Genubath was in the house of Pharaoh with Pharaoh’s own sons.
21 Later Hadad heard that David rested with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead. So Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Send me back to my own country.”
22 Pharaoh said to him, “What are you lacking here with me, so that you want to go back to your own country?”
He said, “Nothing, but please let me go.”
23 God also raised up another adversary for Solomon, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah. 24 After David had destroyed Zobah’s army, Rezon gathered men around himself and was the commander of a band of raiders. They went to Damascus and lived there and ruled Damascus. 25 He was Israel’s adversary during all the days of Solomon, in addition to all the difficulties which Hadad caused. He was hostile to Israel, and he ruled over Aram.
God Chooses Jeroboam to Be King of Israel
26 Jeroboam son of Nebat was an Ephraimite from Zeredah. His mother’s name was Zeruah. She was a widow. Jeroboam was Solomon’s official, but he rebelled against the king. 27 This is the account of how he rebelled against the king.
When Solomon was rebuilding the Millo and repairing the gap in the wall in the city of his father David, 28 Jeroboam showed that he was a very capable man. When Solomon saw that the young man was a capable worker, he appointed him over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph.[b] 29 At that time, when Jeroboam left Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him on the road.[c] Ahijah was wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone in the field. 30 Ahijah took the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.
31 He told Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, because this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says.”
The Lord’s Message to Jeroboam
Look, I am tearing the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand, and I will give you ten tribes. 32 But one tribe will remain with him for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel. 33 This is because they have abandoned me and worshipped Ashtarte the goddess of the Sidonians, and Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites. They have not walked in my ways by doing what is upright in my eyes and keeping my commands and judgments as his father David did. 34 I will not take the whole kingdom from his hand because I appointed him leader for all the days of his life for the sake of my servant David, whom I chose and who kept my commands and statutes. 35 However, I will take the kingdom from his son’s hand, and I will give ten tribes to you. 36 To his son I will give one tribe in order that there may be a lamp for my servant David before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name.
37 But I will take you, and you will be king over all that your soul desires. You will be king over Israel. 38 If you listen to all that I command you, and if you walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes, keeping my decrees and my statutes, just as my servant David did, then I will be with you, and I will build an enduring house for you, just as I built for David. I will give Israel to you. 39 Now I will humble the seed of David because of this, but not forever.
40 As a result Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled to Shishak king of Egypt. He stayed in Egypt until Solomon died.
The Death of King Solomon
41 As for the rest of Solomon’s acts, everything he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? 42 Solomon was king over all Israel in Jerusalem for forty years.
43 Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David, his father. His son Rehoboam ruled as king in his place.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 11:7 The Hebrew text switches from Milcom in verse 5 to Molek in verse 7.
- 1 Kings 11:28 That is, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh
- 1 Kings 11:29 The Greek Old Testament has the additional words marked by the half-brackets: Ahijah from Shiloh met him on the road ⎣and caused him to turn aside out of the road⎦. The additional words are found between two occcurrences of the road.
1 Kings 11
Revised Geneva Translation
11 But King Solomon loved many foreign women: the daughter of Pharaoh, the women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and Heth
2 (the nations of which the LORD had said to the children of Israel, ‘Do not go in to them or let them come in to you. For surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.’). To them Solomon joined in love.
3 And he had seven hundred wives (princesses) and three hundred concubines. And his wives perverted his heart.
4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, so that his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.
5 For Solomon followed Ashtoreth, the god of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites.
6 So Solomon worked wickedness in the sight of the LORD, but continued not to follow the LORD, as David his father.
7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab (on the mountain that is opposite Jerusalem), and to Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.
8 And so he did for all his foreign wives, who burnt incense and offered to their gods.
9 Therefore, the LORD was angry with Solomon, because he had turned his heart from the LORD God of Israel, Who had appeared to him twice
10 and had given him a charge concerning this thing, that he should not follow other gods. But he did not keep that which the LORD had Commanded him.
11 Therefore, the LORD said to Solomon, “Because this has been done by you, and you have not kept My Covenant and My Statutes which I Commanded you, I will surely tear your kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.
12 “Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days, because of David your father. But I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
13 “However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but will give one tribe to your son, because of David my servant and because of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”
14 Then the LORD stirred up an adversary to Solomon: Hadad the Edomite, of the king’s seed, who was in Edom.
15 For when David was in Edom, and Joab, the captain of the army, had stricken all the males in Edom, and had gone up to bury the dead
16 (Joab and all Israel had remained there for six months until he had destroyed all the males in Edom),
17 then this Hadad fled, and certain other Edomites of his father’s servants with him, to go into Egypt (Hadad still being a little child).
18 And they arose out of Midian and came to Paran and took men with them out of Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who gave him a house and apportioned him food and gave him land.
19 So, Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh. And he gave him as a wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the Queen.
20 And the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath, his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house. And Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh.
21 And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab, the captain of the army, was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me depart, so that I may go to my own country.”
22 But Pharaoh said to him, “What have you lacked with me that you would go to your own country like this?” And he answered, “Nothing. But let me go anyway.”
23 And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, who fled from his lord Hadadezer, king of Zobah.
24 And he gathered men to him and had been captain over the company when David killed them. And they went to Damascus and dwelt there. And they made him king in Damascus.
25 Therefore, he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon. Besides the evil that Hadad had done, he also abhorred Israel and reigned over Aram.
26 And Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zereda, Solomon’s servant (whose mother was called Zeruah, a widow) lifted up his hand against the king.
27 And this was the reason that he lifted up his hand against the king: When Solomon built Millo, he repaired the broken places of the City of David, his father.
28 And this man, Jeroboam, was a man of strength and courage. And Solomon, seeing that the young man was industrious, made him overseer of all the labor of the House of Joseph.
29 And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the Prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the road, having a new garment on him. And those two were alone in the field.
30 Then Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and tore it in twelve pieces,
31 and said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself! For thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hands of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you.
32 ‘But he shall have one tribe for My servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem the city, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel,
33 ‘because they have forsaken Me and have worshipped Ashtoreth, the god of the Sidonians, and Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, and Milcom, the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in My ways (to do right in My Eyes and My Statutes and My Laws) as David his father.
34 ‘But I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand. For I will make him prince all his life long, for David my servant’s sake, whom I have chosen, who kept My Commandments and My Statutes.
35 ‘But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and will give it to you, the ten tribes.
36 ‘And to his son I will give one tribe, so that David My servant may have a light always before Me in Jerusalem the city, which I have chosen for Myself, to put My Name there.
37 ‘And I will take you. And you shall reign as your heart desires, and shall be king over Israel.
38 ‘And if you listen to all that I Command you, and will walk in My ways, and do right in My sight, to keep My Statutes and My Commandments as David my servant did, then will I be with you and build you a sure House, as I built to David. And will give Israel to you.
39 ‘And I will afflict the seed of David for this, but not forever.’”
40 Therefore, Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt, to Shishak, king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
41 And the rest of the words of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon?
42 The time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.
43 And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the City of David, his father. And Rehoboam, his son, reigned in his place.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
© 2019, 2024 by Five Talents Audio. All rights reserved.