CHAPTER 11
King
Solomon, however,
loved
many
foreign
women
along with the daughter
of Pharaoh—
women of Moab,
Ammon,
Edom,
and Sidon,
as well as Hittite women.
These women were from
the nations
about which
the LORD
had told
the Israelites,
“You must not
intermarry
with them,
for surely
they will turn
your hearts
after
their gods.”
Yet Solomon
clung
to these women
in love.
He had
seven
hundred
wives
of royal birth
and three
hundred
concubines—
and his wives
turned his heart
away.
For when
Solomon
grew
old,
his wives
turned
his heart
after
other
gods,
and he was
not
wholeheartedly
devoted
to
the LORD
his God,
as his father
David had been.
Solomon
followed
Ashtoreth
the goddess
of the Sidonians
and Molech
the abomination
of the Ammonites.
So Solomon
did
evil
in the sight
of the LORD—
and unlike his father
David,
he did not
follow
the LORD
completely.
At that time
on a hill
east
of
Jerusalem,
Solomon
built
a high place
for Chemosh
the abomination
of Moab
and for Molech
the abomination
of the Ammonites.
Now the LORD
grew angry
with Solomon,
because
his heart
had turned away
from
the LORD,
the God
of Israel,
who had appeared
to him
twice.
Although He had warned Solomon
explicitly
not
to follow
other
gods,
Solomon did not
observe
what
the LORD
had commanded.
Then the LORD
said
to Solomon,
“Because
you have done
this
and have not
kept
My covenant
and My statutes,
which
I have commanded
you,
I will tear
the kingdom
away
from you
and give it
to your servant.
Nevertheless,
for the sake
of your father
David,
I will not
do
it during your lifetime;
I will tear it
out of the hand
of your son.
Yet
I will not
tear the whole
kingdom
away from him.
I will give
one
tribe
to your son
for the sake
of My servant
David
and for the sake
of Jerusalem,
which
I have chosen.”
Then the LORD
raised up
against Solomon
an adversary,
Hadad
the Edomite,
from the royal
line
of Edom.
Earlier,
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.
But Hadad,
still just
a young
boy,
had fled
to Egypt,
along with
some Edomites
who were servants
of his father.
Hadad and his men set out
from Midian
and went
to Paran.
They took
men
from Paran
with them
and went
to Egypt,
to
Pharaoh
king
of Egypt,
who gave
Hadad
a house
and land
and provided
him
with food.
There Hadad
found
such great
favor
in the sight
of Pharaoh
that he gave
to him
in marriage
the sister
of Queen
Tahpenes,
his own wife.
And the sister
of Tahpenes
bore
Hadad
a son
named Genubath.
Tahpenes
herself weaned
him in
Pharaoh’s
palace,
and Genubath
lived
there
among
the sons
of Pharaoh.
When Hadad
heard
in Egypt
that
David
had rested
with
his fathers
and that
Joab,
the commander
of the army,
was dead,
he
said
to
Pharaoh,
“Let me go,
so I may return
to
my own country."
But Pharaoh
asked him,
“What
have you
lacked
here with me
that you suddenly
want
to go back
to
your own country?”
“Nothing,”
Hadad replied,
“but
please let me go.”
And God
raised up
against Solomon
another adversary,
Rezon
the son
of Eliada,
who
had fled
from
his master,
Hadadezer
king
of Zobah
and had gathered
men
to himself.
When David
killed
the Zobaites,
Rezon captained
a band of raiders
and went
to Damascus,
where they settled
and gained control.
Rezon was
Israel’s
enemy
throughout
the days
of Solomon,
adding to
the trouble
caused by
Hadad.
So Rezon ruled
over
Aram
with hostility
toward Israel.
Now Solomon’s
servant,
Jeroboam
son
of Nebat,
was an Ephraimite
from
Zeredah,
and his mother
was a widow
named
Zeruah.
Jeroboam rebelled
against Solomon,
and this
is the account
of his rebellion
against the king.
Solomon
had built
the supporting terraces
and repaired
the gap in the wall
of the city
of his father
David.
And
Jeroboam was
a mighty man
of valor,
so Solomon
noticed
that
the young man
was
industrious
and put him in charge
of the whole
labor force
of the house
of Joseph.
During
that
time,
the prophet
Ahijah
the Shilonite
met
Jeroboam
on the road
as he
was going out
of Jerusalem.
Now Ahijah
had wrapped himself
in a new
cloak,
and the two
of them were alone
in the open field.
and said
to Jeroboam,
“Take
ten
pieces
for yourself,
for
this is what
the LORD,
the God
of Israel,
says:
‘Behold,
I will tear
the kingdom
out of the hand
of Solomon,
and I will give
you
ten
tribes.
But one
tribe
will remain
for the sake
of My servant
David
and for the sake
of Jerusalem,
the city
I chose
out of all
the tribes
of Israel.
For
they have
forsaken Me
to worship
Ashtoreth
the goddess
of the Sidonians,
Chemosh
the god
of the Moabites,
and Molech
the god
of the Ammonites.
They have not
walked
in My ways,
nor done
what is right
in My eyes,
nor kept My statutes
and judgments,
as Solomon's father
David did.
Nevertheless, I will not
take
the whole
kingdom
out of Solomon's hand,
because
I have made him
ruler
all
the days
of his life
for the sake
of David
My servant,
whom
I chose
because
he kept
My commandments
and statutes.
I will give
one
tribe
to his son,
so that
My servant
David
will always
have
a lamp
before Me
in Jerusalem,
the city
where
I chose
to put
My name.
But as for you,
I will take you,
and you shall reign
over all
that
your heart
desires,
and you will be
king
over
Israel.
If
you listen to
all that
I command you,
walk
in My ways,
and do
what is right
in My sight
in order to keep
My statutes
and commandments
as
My servant
David
did,
then I will be
with you.
I will build
you a lasting
dynasty
just as
I built
for David,
and I will give
Israel
to you.
Solomon
therefore sought
to kill
Jeroboam.
But Jeroboam
arose
and fled
to Egypt,
to
Shishak
king
of Egypt,
where
he remained
until
the death
of Solomon.
As for the rest
of the acts
of Solomon—
all
that
he did,
as well as his wisdom—
are they
not
written
in
the Book
of the Acts
of Solomon?
And Solomon
rested
with
his fathers
and was buried
in the city
of his father
David.
And his son
Rehoboam
became king
in his place.