The Daily Audio Bible

Solomon Turns from the Lord

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 concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, ^(B)“You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. ³ He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. ⁴ For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and ^(C)his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, ^(D)as was the heart of David his father. ⁵ For Solomon went after ^(E)Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after ^(F)Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. ⁶ So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. ⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for ^(G)Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for ^(H)Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. ⁸ And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.

The Lord Raises Adversaries

⁹ And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because ^(I)his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(J)who had appeared to him twice ¹⁰ and ^(K)had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded. ¹¹ Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, ^(L)I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. ¹² Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ¹³ However, ^(M)I will not tear away all the kingdom, but ^(N)I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem ^(O)that I have chosen.”

¹⁴ And the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He was of the royal house in Edom. ¹⁵ For ^(P)when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the slain, he struck down every male in Edom ¹⁶ (for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom). ¹⁷ But Hadad fled to Egypt, together with certain Edomites of his father's servants, Hadad still being a little child. ¹⁸ They set out from Midian and came to ^(Q)Paran and took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and assigned him an allowance of food and gave him land. ¹⁹ And 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 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 But when Hadad heard in Egypt ^(R)that David slept with his fathers 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.” ²² But Pharaoh said to him, “What have you lacked with me that you are now seeking to go to your own country?” And he said to him, “Only let me depart.”

²³ God also raised up as an adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master ^(S)Hadadezer king of Zobah. ²⁴ And he gathered men about him and became leader of a marauding band, ^(T)after the killing by David. And they went to Damascus and lived there and made him king in Damascus. ²⁵ He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon, doing harm as Hadad did. And he loathed Israel and reigned over Syria.

^26 (U)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(V)an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow, also ^(W)lifted up his hand against the king. ²⁷ And this was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king. ^(X)Solomon built the Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of David his father. 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 And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet ^(Y)Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had dressed himself in a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the open country. ³⁰ Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, ^(Z)and tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹ And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, ^(AA)I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes ³² (but ^(AB)he shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, ^(AC)the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), ³³ because they have^[a] forsaken me ^(AD)and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and they have not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my rules, as David his father 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 David my servant whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes. ^35 (AE)But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and will give it to you, ten tribes. ³⁶ Yet to his son ^(AF)I will give one tribe, that David my servant may always have ^(AG)a lamp before me in Jerusalem, ^(AH)the city where I have chosen to put my name. ³⁷ And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. ³⁸ And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, ^(AI)I will be with you and ^(AJ)will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. ³⁹ And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever.’” ⁴⁰ Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt, to ^(AK)Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

^41 (AL)Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? ⁴² And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. ⁴³ And Solomon ^(AM)slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And ^(AN)Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

Rehoboam's Folly

12 ^(AO)Rehoboam went to ^(AP)Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ² And as soon as ^(AQ)Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for ^(AR)he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from^[b] Egypt. ³ And they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam, ^4 (AS)“Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.” ⁵ He said to them, ^(AT)“Go away for three days, then come again to me.” So the people went away.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” ⁷ And they said to him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.” ⁸ But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. ⁹ And he said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” ¹⁰ And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to this people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us,’ thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father's thighs. ¹¹ And now, whereas ^(AU)my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”

¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said, ^(AV)“Come to me again the third day.” ¹³ And the king answered the people harshly, and forsaking the counsel that the old men had given him, ¹⁴ he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, ^(AW)“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 scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, for ^(AX)it was a turn of affairs brought about by the Lord that he might fulfill his word, which ^(AY)the Lord spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

The Kingdom Divided

¹⁶ And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. ^(AZ)To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So Israel went to their tents. ¹⁷ But Rehoboam reigned over ^(BA)the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah. ¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent ^(BB)Adoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. ^19 (BC)So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

The Conversion of Saul

9 But Saul, ^(A)still ^(B)breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to ^(C)the high priest ² and asked him for letters ^(D)to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to ^(E)the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. ^3 (F)Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. ⁴ And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting ^(G)me?” ⁵ And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, ^(H)whom you are persecuting. ⁶ But ^(I)rise and enter the city, and you will be told ^(J)what you are to do.” ^7 (K)The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, ^(L)hearing the voice but seeing no one. ⁸ Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, ^(M)he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. ⁹ And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰ Now there was a disciple at Damascus named ^(N)Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, ^(O)“Here I am, Lord.” ¹¹ And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man ^(P)of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, ¹² and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and ^(Q)lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” ¹³ But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, ^(R)how much evil he has done to ^(S)your ^(T)saints at Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And here he has authority from ^(U)the chief priests to bind all who ^(V)call on your name.” ¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go, for ^(W)he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name ^(X)before the Gentiles and ^(Y)kings and the children of Israel. ¹⁶ For ^(Z)I will show him how much ^(AA)he must suffer ^(AB)for the sake of my name.” ¹⁷ So ^(AC)Ananias departed and entered the house. And ^(AD)laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and ^(AE)be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and ^(AF)he regained his sight. Then ^(AG)he rose and was baptized; ¹⁹ and ^(AH)taking food, he was strengthened.

Saul Proclaims Jesus in Synagogues

For ^(AI)some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. ²⁰ And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ^(AJ)“He is the Son of God.” ²¹ And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who ^(AK)made havoc ^(AL)in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” ²² But Saul ^(AM)increased all the more in strength, and ^(AN)confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving ^(AO)that Jesus was the Christ.

Saul Escapes from Damascus

^23 (AP)When many days had passed, the Jews^[a] plotted to kill him, ²⁴ but their ^(AQ)plot became known to Saul. ^(AR)They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, ²⁵ but his disciples took him by night and ^(AS)let him down through an opening in the wall,^[b] lowering him in a basket.

I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul

A Song of ^(A)Ascents. Of David.