1 Kings 10:1–12:24
1 aNow when the aqueen of bSheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came cto test him with difficult questions.
2 So she came to Jerusalem with a very large retinue, with camels acarrying spices and very much gold and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart.
3 Solomon 1answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from the king which he did not 2explain to her.
4 When the queen of Sheba perceived all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built,
5 the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, and 1his stairway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.
6 Then she said to the king, “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom.
7 “Nevertheless I did not believe the 1reports, until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. You exceed in wisdom and prosperity the report which I heard.
8 “How ablessed are your men, how blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom.
9 “aBlessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel; bbecause the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, cto do justice and righteousness.”
10 aShe gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a very great amount of spices and precious stones. Never again did such abundance of spices come in as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.
11 aAlso the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a very great number of almug trees and precious stones.
12 aThe king made of the almug trees supports for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, also lyres and harps for the singers; such almug trees have not come in again nor have they been seen to this day.
13 King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire which she requested, besides what he gave her according to 1his royal bounty. Then she turned and went to her own land 2together with her servants.
14 aNow the weight of gold which came in to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold,
15 besides that from the traders and the 1wares of the merchants and all the kings of the aArabs and the governors of the country.
16 aKing Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold, 1using 600 shekels of gold on each large shield.
17 He made a300 shields of beaten gold, 1using three minas of gold on each shield, and bthe king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
18 Moreover, the king made a great throne of aivory and overlaid it with refined gold.
19 There were six steps to the throne and a round top to the throne at its rear, and 1arms 2on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the 1arms.
20 Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps on the one side and on the other; nothing like it was made for any other kingdom.
21 All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None was of silver; it was not considered 1valuable in the days of Solomon.
22 For athe king had at sea the ships of Tarshish with the ships of Hiram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks.
23 aSo King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.
24 All the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon, ato hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart.
25 aThey brought every man his gift, articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year.
26 aNow Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; and he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he 1stationed them in the bchariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.
27 aThe king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the 1lowland.
28 aAlso Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s merchants procured them from Kue for a price.
29 A chariot 1was imported from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver, and a horse for 150; and 2by the same means they exported them ato all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of the Arameans.
1 Now aKing 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 sons of Israel, “aYou shall not 1associate with them, nor shall they 1associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon held fast to these in love.
3 aHe had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.
4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and ahis heart was not 1wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
5 For Solomon went after aAshtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after 1bMilcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites.
6 Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as David his father had done.
7 Then Solomon built a high place for aChemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is 1east of Jerusalem, and for bMolech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.
8 Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9 Now athe Lord was angry with Solomon bbecause his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, cwho had appeared to him twice,
10 and ahad commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the Lord had commanded.
11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “Because 1you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, aI will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.
12 “Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
13 “However, aI will not tear away all the kingdom, but bI will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and cfor the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”
14 Then the Lord raised up an adversary to Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the 1royal line in Edom.
15 For it came about, awhen David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, and had bstruck down every male in Edom
16 (for Joab and all Israel stayed there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom),
17 that Hadad fled 1to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him, while Hadad was a young boy.
18 They arose from Midian and came to aParan; 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 1before Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.
20 The sister of Tahpenes bore his son Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh.
21 But awhen Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Send me away, that I may go to my own country.”
22 Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me, that behold, you are seeking to go to your own country?” And he answered, “Nothing; nevertheless you must surely 1let me go.”
23 aGod also raised up another adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord bHadadezer king of Zobah.
24 He gathered men to himself and became leader of a marauding band, aafter David slew them of Zobah; and they went to Damascus and stayed 1there, and reigned in Damascus.
25 So he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, along with the evil that Hadad did; and he abhorred Israel and reigned over Aram.
26 Then aJeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, balso 1rebelled against the king.
27 Now this was the reason why he 1rebelled against the king: aSolomon built the 2Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of his father David.
28 Now the man Jeroboam was a valiant warrior, and when aSolomon saw that the young man was 1industrious, he appointed him over all the 2forced labor of the house of Joseph.
29 It came about at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that athe prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now 1Ahijah had clothed himself with a new cloak; and both of them were alone in the field.
30 Then aAhijah took hold of the new cloak which was on him and tore it into twelve pieces.
31 He said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces; for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, aI will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes
32 (abut he will have one tribe, for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, bthe city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel),
33 because they have forsaken Me, and ahave worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, bChemosh 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 observing 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 1ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of My servant David whom I chose, who observed My commandments and My statutes;
35 but aI will take the kingdom from his son’s hand and give it to you, even ten tribes.
36 ‘But ato his son I will give one tribe, bthat My servant David may have a lamp always before Me in Jerusalem