Chapter 11

Solomon Turns from God

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.”

God Raises Adversaries

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, athe city where I have chosen for Myself to put My name.

37 ‘I will take you, and you shall reign over whatever 1you desire, and you shall be king over Israel.

38 ‘Then it will be, that if you listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight by observing My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then aI will be with you and bbuild you an enduring house as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.

39 ‘Thus I will afflict the 1descendants of David for this, but not always.’ ”

40 Solomon sought therefore to put Jeroboam to death; but Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt to aShishak king of Egypt, and he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

The Death of Solomon

41 aNow the rest of the acts of Solomon and whatever he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?

42 Thus athe time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.

43 And Solomon aslept with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David, and his son bRehoboam reigned in his place.