1 Kings 11:26–40

Jeroboam’s Rebellion

²⁶Then Solomon’s servant, ^aJeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zereda, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, ^balso ^crebelled against the king.

²⁷And this is what caused him to rebel against the king: ^dSolomon had built the Millo and ⁶repaired the damages to the City of David his father. ²⁸The man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon, seeing that the young man was ^eindustrious, made him the officer over all the labor force of the house of Joseph.

²⁹Now it happened at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet ^fAhijah the Shilonite met him on the way; and he had clothed himself with a new garment, and the two were alone in the field. ³⁰Then Ahijah took hold of the new garment that was on him, and ^gtore it into twelve pieces. ³¹And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for ^hthus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you ³²(but he shall have one tribe for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), ³³ⁱbecause ⁷they have forsaken Me, and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the people of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My eyes and keep My statutes and My judgments, as did his father David. ³⁴However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, because I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David, whom I chose because he kept My commandments and My statutes. ³⁵But ^jI will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and give it to you—ten tribes. ³⁶And to his son I will give one tribe, that ^kMy servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for Myself, to put My name there. ³⁷So I will take you, and you shall reign over all your heart desires, and you shall be king over Israel. ³⁸Then it shall be, if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then ^lI will be with you and ^mbuild for you an enduring house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you. ³⁹And I will afflict the descendants of David because of this, but not forever.’ ”

⁴⁰Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt, to ⁿShishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.