Solomon’s Errors

11 King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,^{(A) 2} from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the Israelites, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for they will surely incline your heart to follow their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love.^{(B) 3} Among his wives were seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned away his heart. ⁴ For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.^{(C) 5} For Solomon followed Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.^{(D) 6} So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not completely follow the Lord, as his father David had done. ⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites on the mountain east of Jerusalem.^{(E) 8} He did the same for all his foreign wives who offered incense and sacrificed to their gods.

⁹ Then 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^{(F) 10} and had commanded him concerning this matter, that he should not follow other gods, but he did not observe what the Lord had commanded.^{(G) 11} Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this has been your mind and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant.^{(H) 12} Yet for the sake of your father David I will not do it in your lifetime; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ¹³ I will not, however, tear away the entire kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”^(I)

Adversaries of Solomon

¹⁴ Then the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the royal house in Edom. ¹⁵ For when David was destroying^[a] Edom and Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the dead, he killed every male in Edom^{(J) 16} (for Joab and all Israel remained there six months until he had eliminated every male in Edom), ¹⁷ but Hadad fled to Egypt with some Edomites who were servants of his father. He was a young boy at that time. ¹⁸ They set out from Midian and came to Paran; they took people with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, assigned him an allowance of food, and gave him land. ¹⁹ Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him his sister-in-law for a wife, the sister of Queen Tahpenes. ²⁰ The sister of Tahpenes gave birth by him to his son Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the children of Pharaoh. ²¹ When Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his ancestors and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.”^{(K) 22} But Pharaoh said to him, “What do you lack with me that you now seek to go to your own country?” And he said, “No, do let me go.”

²³ God raised up another adversary against Solomon,^[b] Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah.^{(L) 24} He gathered followers around him and became leader of a marauding band, after the killing by David; they went to Damascus, settled there, and made him king in Damascus.^{(M) 25} He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon, making trouble as Hadad did; he despised Israel and reigned over Aram.

Jeroboam’s Rebellion

²⁶ Jeroboam son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, rebelled against the king.^{(N) 27} The following was the reason he rebelled against the king. Solomon built the Millo and closed up the gap in the wall^[c] of the city of his father David.^{(O) 28} The man Jeroboam was very able, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, he gave him charge over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. ²⁹ About that time, when Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Ahijah had clothed himself with a new garment. The two of them were alone in the open country^{(P) 30} when Ahijah laid hold of the new garment he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.^{(Q) 31} He then said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: See, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes.^{(R) 32} One tribe will remain his, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. ³³ This is because he has^[d] forsaken me, worshiped Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and has^[e] not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my ordinances, as his father David did.^{(S) 34} Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom away from him but will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of my servant David whom I chose and who did keep my commandments and my statutes, ³⁵ but I will take the kingdom away from his son and give it to you—that is, the ten tribes.^{(T) 36} Yet to his son I will give one tribe, so that my servant David may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name.^{(U) 37} I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires; you shall be king over Israel. ³⁸ If you will listen to all that I command you, walk in my ways, and do what is right in my sight by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you an enduring house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.^{(V) 39} For this reason I will punish the descendants of David, but not forever.” ⁴⁰ Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam promptly fled to Egypt, to King Shishak of Egypt, and remained in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

Death of Solomon

⁴¹ Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, all that he did as well as his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon?^{(W) 42} The time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.^{(X) 43} Solomon slept with his ancestors and was buried in the city of his father David, and his son Rehoboam succeeded him.^(Y)

Judgment on the House of Jeroboam

14 At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam fell sick. ² Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go, disguise yourself so that it will not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh, for the prophet Ahijah is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people.^{(A) 3} Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him; he will tell you what shall happen to the child.”^(B)

⁴ Jeroboam’s wife did so; she set out and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age.^{(C) 5} But the Lord said to Ahijah, “The wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus you shall say to her when she comes. She will pretend to be another woman.”^(D)

⁶ But when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam; why do you pretend to be another? For I am charged with heavy tidings for you. ⁷ Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because I exalted you from among the people, made you leader over my people Israel,^{(E) 8} and tore the kingdom away from the house of David to give it to you, yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my sight,^{(F) 9} but you have done evil above all those who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and cast images, provoking me to anger, and have thrust me behind your back,^{(G) 10} therefore I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will consume the house of Jeroboam, just as one burns up dung until it is all gone.^{(H) 11} Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone who dies in the open country the birds of the air shall eat, for the Lord has spoken.’^{(I) 12} Therefore set out, go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die.^{(J) 13} All Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he alone of Jeroboam’s family shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.^{(K) 14} Moreover the Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today, even right now!^[a](L)

¹⁵ “The Lord will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water; he will root up Israel out of this good land that he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their sacred poles,^[b] provoking the Lord to anger.^{(M) 16} He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and which he caused Israel to commit.”^(N)

¹⁷ Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and went away, and she came to Tirzah. As she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. ¹⁸ All Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servant the prophet Ahijah.

Death of Jeroboam

¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred and how he reigned, are written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel.^{(O) 20} The time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years; then he slept with his ancestors, and his son Nadab succeeded him.

Rehoboam Reigns over Judah

²¹ Now Rehoboam son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.^{(P) 22} Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their ancestors had done.^{(Q) 23} For they also built for themselves high places, pillars, and sacred poles^[c] on every high hill and under every green tree;^{(R) 24} there were also illicit priests in the land. They committed all the abominations of the nations that the Lord had driven out before the people of Israel.^(S)

²⁵ In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt came up against Jerusalem;^{(T) 26} he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took everything. He also took away all the shields of gold that Solomon had made,^{(U) 27} so King Rehoboam made shields of bronze instead and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard who kept the door of the king’s house. ²⁸ As often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard carried them and brought them back to the guardroom.

²⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah?^{(V) 30} There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.^{(W) 31} Rehoboam slept with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. His son Abijam succeeded him.^(X)