1 Kings 11:1–13

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.”