1 Kings 11

Solomon’s Unfaithfulness to God

11King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter: ^dMoabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women ^e2from 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.” ^fSolomon was deeply attached to these women and loved them. ³He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines, ^gand they turned his heart away from the Lord. ^h

⁴When 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. ⁱ⁵Solomon followed Ashtoreth, ^jthe goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, ^kthe detestable idol of the Ammonites. ^l6Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, and unlike his father David, he did not completely follow Yahweh.

⁷At that time, Solomon built a high place ^mfor Chemosh, ⁿthe detestable idol of Moab, and for Milcom, ^opthe detestable idol of the Ammonites, on the hill across from Jerusalem. ^q8He 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 Yahweh, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. ^r10He had commanded him about this, so that he would not follow other gods, but Solomon did not do what the Lord had commanded. ^s

¹¹Then the Lord said to Solomon, “Since you have done this ^tand 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. ^u12However, I will not do it during your lifetime because of your father David; ^vI will tear it out of your son’s hand. ¹³Yet I will not tear the entire kingdom away from him. I will give one tribe to your son ^wbecause of my servant David and because of Jerusalem that I chose.”

Solomon’s Enemies

¹⁴So the Lord raised up ^xHadad the Edomite as an enemy against Solomon. He was of the royal family in Edom. ¹⁵Earlier, 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. ¹⁶For Joab and all Israel had remained there six months, until he had killed every male in Edom. ^y17Hadad fled to Egypt, along with some Edomites from his father’s servants. At the time Hadad was a small boy. ¹⁸Hadad and his men set out from Midian and went to Paran. ^zThey took men with them from Paran and went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, ^awho gave Hadad a house, ordered that he be given food, and gave him land. ¹⁹Pharaoh liked Hadad so much that he gave him a wife, the sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes. ²⁰Tahpenes’ 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.

²¹When 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.”

²²But 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.”

²³God raised up Rezon son of Eliada as an enemy ^bagainst Solomon. Rezon had fled from his master Hadadezer king of Zobah ^c24and gathered men to himself. He became captain of a raiding party when David killed the Zobaites. He ^dwent to Damascus, ^elived there, and became king in Damascus. ²⁵Rezon was Israel’s enemy throughout Solomon’s reign, adding to the trouble Hadad had caused. He ruled over Aram, ^fgbut he loathed Israel.

²⁶Now Solomon’s servant, ^hJeroboam son of Nebat, was an Ephraimite from Zeredah. His widowed mother’s name was Zeruah. Jeroboam rebelled ⁱagainst Solomon, ²⁷and this is the reason he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built the supporting terraces ^jand repaired the opening in the wall of the city of his father David. ²⁸Now 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. ^k

²⁹During that time, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite ^lmet 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. ³⁰Then Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he had on, tore it into 12 pieces, ^m31and 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, ³²but one tribe will remain his because of my servant David ⁿand because of Jerusalem, the city I chose out of all the tribes of Israel. ^o33For 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. ^pThey 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. ^q

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. ³⁵I will take 10 tribes of the kingdom from his son’s hand and give them to you. ³⁶I will give one tribe ^rto his son, ^sso that My servant David will always have a lamp before Me ^tin Jerusalem, the city I chose for Myself to put My name there. ^u37I will appoint you, ^vand you will reign as king ^wover all you want, ^xand 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. ^yI will build you a lasting dynasty just as I built for David, ^zand I will give you Israel. ³⁹I will humble David’s descendants, because of their unfaithfulness, but not forever.’ ” ^ab

⁴⁰Therefore, Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, ^cbut he fled to Egypt, ^dto Shishak king of Egypt, ^ewhere he remained until Solomon’s death.

Solomon’s Death

⁴¹The 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. ^f42The length of Solomon’s reign in Jerusalem over all Israel totaled 40 years. ^g43Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam ^hbecame king in his place. ⁱ