FIRST KINGS

 

1 Kings Chapter 11

1 ¶ Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, besides the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Zidonian, and Hittite women;

2 From the nations concerning which the LORD said to the children of Israel, You shall not go in to them, nor shall they come in to you: for they will surely turn your heart to their gods: Solomon clung to these in love.

3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.

4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart to other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not fully follow the LORD, as did David his father.

7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.

8 And he did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

9 ¶ And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the LORD God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,

10 And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he did not keep what the LORD commanded.

11 Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, Inasmuch as you have done this, and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I have ordered you to keep, I will surely rip the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.

12 Nevertheless I will not do it during your lifetime for your father David’s sake: but I will rip it out of the hand of your son.

13 However I will not tear away the entire kingdom; but will give one tribe to your son for my servant David’s sake, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.

14 ¶ And the LORD raised a man to oppose Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the royal family in Edom.

15 For when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the dead, after he had struck down every male in Edom;

16 (For Joab and all Israel remained there for six months, until he had killed every male in Edom:)

17 Hadad, who was only a small boy, together with some of his father’s Edomite servants, fled into Egypt.

18 They set out from Midian, and went to Paran: and took men from Paran with them, and went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt; who gave him a house, and land, and an allowance of food.

19 And Hadad found great favor with Pharaoh, so that he gave him the sister of his own wife as a wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.

20 And Tahpenes’ sister gave birth to Hadad’s son Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house: and Genubath lived in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh.

21 And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me leave, so that I may go to my own country.

22 Then Pharaoh said to him, What have you lacked with me, that you now want to go to your own country? And he answered, Nothing: however let me go anyway.

23 And God raised up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliadah, who had ran away from his master Hadadezer king of Zobah.

24 When David slew the men of Zobah. He gathered men around him, and became the leader of a gang: and they went to Damascus, and lived there, and ruled in Damascus.

25 And he opposed Israel as long as Solomon lived, in addition to the harm that Hadad did: and he detested Israel, and ruled over Syria.

26 ¶ Now Solomon’s servant, Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zereda, whose mother was a widow named Zeruah, also lifted up his hand against the king.

27 And this was the reason that he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built the terraces, and repaired the breach in the city of his father David.

28 And the man Jeroboam was a man of ability: and Solomon noticed that the young man was industrious, and put him in charge of all the forced labor of the house of Joseph.

29 And during that time, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met Jeroboam along the road when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem; and he had on a new garment; and the two of them were alone in the field:

30 And Ahijah took hold of the new garment that he had on, and tore it into twelve pieces:

31 And he said to Jeroboam, Take ten pieces: for the LORD, the God of Israel, has said this, I will rip the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to you:

32 (But he will have one tribe for the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:)

33 Because they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do what is right in my eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as David his father did.

34 However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I will make him a ruler all the days of his life for my servant David’s sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes:

35 But I will take ten tribes of the kingdom out of his son’s hand, and will give them to you.

36 And I will give one tribe to his son, so that David my servant may always have a light before me in Jerusalem, the city in which I have chosen to put my name.

37 And I will take you, and you will reign over all that your soul desires, and will be king over Israel.

38 And if you will hearken to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; I will be with you, and build you a permanent house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you.

39 And I will for this afflict the descendants of David, but not forever.

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

41 ¶ The rest of the events of Solomon’s reign, and all his accomplishments, and his wisdom, are they not written in the records about Solomon?

42 And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years.

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