1 Kings 11:1–10

SOLOMON’S UNFAITHFULNESS TO GOD

11King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter:^u Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women^{v 2}from the nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, and they must not intermarry with you, because they will turn your heart away to follow their gods.”^w To these women Solomon was deeply attached^A in love. ³He had seven hundred wives who were princesses and three hundred who were concubines,^x and they turned his heart away.^y

⁴When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been.^{z 5}Solomon followed Ashtoreth,^aa the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom,^ab the abhorrent idol of the Ammonites.^{ac 6}Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, and unlike his father David, he did not remain loyal to the Lord.

⁷At that time, Solomon built a high place^ad for Chemosh,^ae the abhorrent idol of Moab, and for Milcom,^Baf the abhorrent idol of the Ammonites, on the hill across from Jerusalem.^{ag 8}He did the same for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and offering sacrifices to their gods.

⁹The Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.^{ah 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.^a