1 Kings 11
Easy-to-Read Version
Solomon and His Many Wives
11 King Solomon loved many foreign women, including the daughter of Pharaoh and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and the Hittites. 2 In the past the Lord had said to the Israelites, “You must not marry people from other nations. If you do, they will cause you to follow their gods.” But Solomon fell in love with these women. 3 He had 700 wives who were the daughters of leaders from other nations. He also had 300 slave women who were like wives to him. His wives caused him to turn away from God. 4 When Solomon was old, his wives caused him to follow other gods, so he did not follow the Lord completely as his father David did. 5 Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of Sidon, and Milcom, the horrible god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did what the Lord said was wrong. He did not follow the Lord completely as his father David did.
7 On the mountain next to Jerusalem, Solomon built a place for worshiping Chemosh, that horrible idol of the Moabites. On the same mountain, Solomon built a place for worshiping Molech, that horrible idol of the Ammonites. 8 Solomon did the same thing for all of his other foreign wives who burned incense and gave sacrifices to their gods.
9 So Solomon did not remain faithful to the Lord, the God of Israel, even though God had appeared to him twice. The Lord became angry with him. 10 He had told Solomon that he must not follow other gods, but Solomon did not obey the Lord’s command. 11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “You have chosen to break your agreement with me. You have not obeyed my commands. So I promise that I will tear your kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants. 12 But I loved your father David, so I will not take your kingdom away from you while you are alive. I will wait until your son becomes king. Then I will take it from him. 13 Still, I will not tear away all the kingdom from your son. I will leave him one tribe to rule. I will do this for my servant David and for Jerusalem, the city I chose.”
Solomon’s Enemies
14 Then the Lord raised up Hadad the Edomite to become Solomon’s enemy. Hadad was from the royal family of Edom. 15 This is how it happened. In the past David fought against Edom. Joab was the commander of David’s army. Joab went to Edom to bury his dead soldiers. While there Joab killed all the Edomite men who were still alive. 16 Joab and the men of Israel stayed in Edom for six months until they killed all the men of Edom. 17 At the time Hadad was only a young boy. He and some of his father’s servants ran away to Egypt. 18 They left Midian and went to Paran. In Paran some other people joined them and the whole group went to Egypt. They went to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and asked for help. Pharaoh gave Hadad a house, some land, and food to eat.
19 Pharaoh liked Hadad so much that he gave Hadad a wife. She was Pharaoh’s sister-in-law. (Pharaoh’s wife was Queen Tahpenes.) 20 Hadad and the sister of Tahpenes had a son named Genubath. Queen Tahpenes let Genubath grow up in Pharaoh’s house with his children.
21 In Egypt Hadad heard that David had died and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead. So Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me go home to my own country.”
22 But Pharaoh answered, “I have given you everything you need here. Why do you want to go back to your own country?”
Hadad answered, “Please, just let me go home.”
23 God also raised up another man to become one of Solomon’s enemies. This man was Rezon, son of Eliada. Rezon ran away from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah. 24 After David defeated the army of Zobah, Rezon gathered some men and became the leader of a small army. He went to Damascus and stayed there to rule from Damascus. 25 Rezon became the king of Aram. He was an enemy of Israel throughout Solomon’s life and added to the trouble that Hadad created for Israel.
26 There was also another person who became an enemy of Solomon. He was Jeroboam son of Nebat. He was an Ephraimite from the town of Zeredah. His mother was a widow named Zeruah. He was one of Solomon’s servants, but he rebelled against the king.
27 This is the story about how Jeroboam turned against the king. Solomon was building the Millo and repairing the wall around the city of David, his father. 28 Jeroboam was a free man.[a] Solomon saw that this young man was a skilled worker, so he made him the supervisor over all the workers from the tribes that descended from Joseph. 29 One day as Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him on the road. They were alone out in the country, and Ahijah was wearing a new coat.
30 Ahijah took his new coat and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces of this coat for yourself because the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will tear the kingdom away from Solomon, and I will give you ten of the tribes. 32 I will let David’s family keep only one tribe. I will do this because of my servant David and because of Jerusalem, the city that I chose from among all the tribes of Israel. 33 I will take the kingdom from Solomon because he stopped following me and began worshiping Ashtoreth, the goddess of Sidon; Chemosh, the god of Moab; and Milcom, the god of the Ammonites. Solomon stopped following my ways and doing what I say is right. He does not obey my laws and commands as his father David did. 34 So I will take the kingdom away from Solomon’s family. I chose David because he obeyed all my laws and commands. So for my servant David, I will let Solomon be the king for the rest of his life. 35 But Jeroboam, I will take the ten tribes away from his son and give them to you. 36 I will let Solomon’s son keep one tribe to rule over. I will do this for my servant David, so he will always have someone to rule near me in Jerusalem, the city that I chose to be my own. 37 But I will make you king of Israel.[b] You will rule over everything you want. 38 If you live right and obey all my commands as David did, I will be with you and make your family a family of kings, just as I did for David. And you will have Israel as your kingdom. 39 I will punish David’s descendants because of what Solomon did, but not forever.’”
Solomon’s Death
40 Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam ran away to Egypt. He went to King Shishak of Egypt and stayed there until Solomon died.
41 Everything else Solomon did, from the beginning to the end, is written in the book, The History of Solomon. 42 Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for 40 years. 43 Then he died[c] and was buried in the city of David, his father. Then Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, became the next king after him.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 11:28 free man Or “a nobleman,” someone who could be called to war to protect his people.
- 1 Kings 11:37 Israel That is, the northern ten tribes.
- 1 Kings 11:43 died Literally, “slept with his ancestors.”
1 Kings 11
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Solomon’s Unfaithfulness to God
11 King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter:(A) Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women(B) 2 from the nations that the Lord had told the Israelites about, “Do not intermarry with them, and they must not intermarry with you, because they will turn you away from Me to their gods.”(C) Solomon was deeply attached to these women and loved them. 3 He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines,(D) and they turned his heart away from the Lord.(E)
4 When Solomon was old, his wives seduced him to follow other gods. He was not completely devoted to Yahweh his God, as his father David had been.(F) 5 Solomon followed Ashtoreth,(G) the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom,(H) the detestable idol of the Ammonites.(I) 6 Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, and unlike his father David, he did not completely follow Yahweh.
7 At that time, Solomon built a high place(J) for Chemosh,(K) the detestable idol of Moab, and for Milcom,[a](L) the detestable idol of the Ammonites, on the hill across from Jerusalem.(M) 8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and offering sacrifices to their gods.
9 The Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from Yahweh, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.(N) 10 He had commanded him about this, so that he would not follow other gods, but Solomon did not do what the Lord had commanded.(O)
11 Then the Lord said to Solomon, “Since you have done this[b] and did not keep My covenant and My statutes, which I commanded you, I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.(P) 12 However, I will not do it during your lifetime because of your father David;(Q) I will tear it out of your son’s hand. 13 Yet I will not tear the entire kingdom away from him. I will give one tribe to your son(R) because of my servant David and because of Jerusalem that I chose.”
Solomon’s Enemies
14 So the Lord raised up(S) Hadad the Edomite as an enemy against Solomon. He was of the royal family in Edom. 15 Earlier, when David was in Edom, Joab, the commander of the army, had gone to bury the dead and had struck down every male in Edom. 16 For Joab and all Israel had remained there six months, until he had killed every male in Edom.(T) 17 Hadad fled to Egypt, along with some Edomites from his father’s servants. At the time Hadad was a small boy. 18 Hadad and his men set out from Midian and went to Paran.(U) They took men with them from Paran and went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt,(V) who gave Hadad a house, ordered that he be given food, and gave him land. 19 Pharaoh liked Hadad so much that he gave him a wife, the sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes. 20 Tahpenes’ sister gave birth to Hadad’s son Genubath. Tahpenes herself weaned him in Pharaoh’s palace, and Genubath lived there along with Pharaoh’s sons.
21 When Hadad heard in Egypt that David rested with his fathers and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me leave, so I can go to my own country.”
22 But Pharaoh asked him, “What do you lack here with me for you to want to go back to your own country?”
“Nothing,” he replied, “but please let me leave.”
23 God raised up Rezon son of Eliada as an enemy(W) against Solomon. Rezon had fled from his master Hadadezer king of Zobah(X) 24 and gathered men to himself. He became captain of a raiding party when David killed the Zobaites. He[c] went to Damascus,(Y) lived there, and became king in Damascus. 25 Rezon was Israel’s enemy throughout Solomon’s reign, adding to the trouble Hadad had caused. He ruled over Aram,[d](Z) but he loathed Israel.
26 Now Solomon’s servant,(AA) Jeroboam son of Nebat, was an Ephraimite from Zeredah. His widowed mother’s name was Zeruah. Jeroboam rebelled(AB) against Solomon, 27 and this is the reason he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built the supporting terraces(AC) and repaired the opening in the wall of the city of his father David. 28 Now the man Jeroboam was capable, and Solomon noticed the young man because he was getting things done. So he appointed him over the entire labor force of the house of Joseph.(AD)
29 During that time, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite(AE) met Jeroboam on the road as Jeroboam came out of Jerusalem. Now Ahijah had wrapped himself with a new cloak, and the two of them were alone in the open field. 30 Then Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he had on, tore it into 12 pieces,(AF) 31 and said to Jeroboam, “Take 10 pieces for yourself, for this is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I am about to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand. I will give you 10 tribes, 32 but one tribe will remain his because of my servant David(AG) and because of Jerusalem, the city I chose out of all the tribes of Israel.(AH) 33 For they have abandoned Me; they have bowed the knee to Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, to Chemosh, the god of Moab, and to Milcom, the god of the Ammonites.(AI) They have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My eyes and to carry out My statutes and My judgments as his father David did.(AJ)
34 “‘However, I will not take the whole kingdom from his hand but will let him be ruler all the days of his life because of My servant David, whom I chose and who kept My commands and My statutes. 35 I will take 10 tribes of the kingdom from his son’s hand and give them to you. 36 I will give one tribe(AK) to his son,(AL) so that My servant David will always have a lamp before Me(AM) in Jerusalem, the city I chose for Myself to put My name there.(AN) 37 I will appoint you,(AO) and you will reign as king(AP) over all you want,(AQ) and you will be king over Israel.
38 “‘After that, if you obey all I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight in order to keep My statutes and My commands as My servant David did, I will be with you.(AR) I will build you a lasting dynasty just as I built for David,(AS) and I will give you Israel. 39 I will humble David’s descendants, because of their unfaithfulness, but not forever.’”[e](AT)
40 Therefore, Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam,(AU) but he fled to Egypt,(AV) to Shishak king of Egypt,(AW) where he remained until Solomon’s death.
Solomon’s Death
41 The rest of the events of Solomon’s reign, along with all his accomplishments and his wisdom, are written in the Book of Solomon’s Events.(AX) 42 The length of Solomon’s reign in Jerusalem over all Israel totaled 40 years.(AY) 43 Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam(AZ) became king in his place.(BA)
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 11:7 Lit Molech
- 1 Kings 11:11 Lit Since this was with you
- 1 Kings 11:24 LXX; Hb reads They
- 1 Kings 11:25 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr read Edom
- 1 Kings 11:39 LXX omits and I will give . . . but not forever
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