1 Kings 11
11
Solomon’s Wives
1King Solomon loved many women besides Pharaoh’s daughter. They were from other lands. They were Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2The Lord had warned Israel about women from other nations. He had said, “You must not marry them. If you do, you can be sure they will turn your hearts toward their gods.” But Solomon continued to love them anyway. He wouldn’t give them up. 3He had 700 wives who came from royal families. And he had 300 concubines. His wives led him astray. 4As Solomon grew older, his wives turned his heart toward other gods. He didn’t follow the Lord his God with all his heart. So he wasn’t like his father David. 5Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth. Ashtoreth was the female god of the Sidonians. He also worshiped Molek. Molek was the god of the Ammonites. The Lord hated that god. 6Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He didn’t completely obey the Lord. He didn’t do what his father David had done.
7There is a hill east of Jerusalem. Solomon built a high place for worshiping Chemosh there. He built a high place for worshiping Molek there too. Chemosh was the god of Moab. Molek was the god of Ammon. The Lord hated both of those gods. 8Solomon also built high places so that all his wives from other nations could worship their gods. Those women burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.
9The Lord became angry with Solomon. That’s because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel. He had appeared to Solomon twice. 10He had commanded Solomon not to worship other gods. But Solomon didn’t obey the Lord. 11So the Lord said to Solomon, “You have chosen not to keep my covenant. You have decided not to obey my rules. I commanded you to do what I told you. But you did not do it. So you can be absolutely sure I will tear the kingdom away from you. I will give it to one of your officials. 12But I will not do that while you are still living. Because of your father David I will wait. I will tear the kingdom out of your son’s hand. 13But I will not tear the whole kingdom away from him. I will give him one of the tribes because of my servant David. I will also do it because of Jerusalem. That is the city I have chosen.”
Solomon’s Enemies
14Then the Lord brought an enemy against Solomon. The enemy’s name was Hadad. He was from Edom. In fact, he belonged to the royal family of Edom. 15David had fought against Edom. Joab had been the commander of the army. He had gone up to bury the dead bodies of the Israelites who had been killed in battle. At that time he had struck down all the men in Edom. 16In fact, Joab and all the men of Israel stayed there for six months. During that time they destroyed all the men in Edom. 17But when Hadad was only a boy, he ran away to Egypt. Some officials from Edom went with him. They had served Hadad’s father. 18They started out from Midian and went to Paran. They took some people from Paran with them. Then they went to Egypt. They went to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. He gave Hadad a house and some land. He also supplied him with food.
19Pharaoh was very pleased with Hadad. Pharaoh’s wife was Queen Tahpenes. He gave Hadad her sister to be his wife. 20The sister of Tahpenes had a son by Hadad. The baby was named Genubath. Tahpenes brought him up in the royal palace. Genubath lived there with Pharaoh’s own children.
21Hadad heard that David had joined the members of his family who had already died. He also heard that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead. Hadad heard those things while he was in Egypt. He said to Pharaoh, “Let me go. I want to return to my own country.”
22“Why do you want to go back to your own country?” Pharaoh asked. “Don’t you have everything you need right here?”
“Yes,” Hadad replied. “But I want you to let me go anyway!”
23God brought another enemy against Solomon. The enemy’s name was Rezon. He was the son of Eliada. Rezon had run away from his master Hadadezer, the king of Zobah. 24David had destroyed Zobah’s army. Then Rezon gathered together some men to follow him. He became their leader. They went to Damascus where they made their homes. They also took control of Damascus. 25Rezon was Israel’s enemy as long as Solomon was living. Rezon added to the trouble Hadad had caused. So Rezon ruled in Aram. He was Israel’s enemy.
Jeroboam Refuses to Follow Solomon
26Jeroboam refused to follow King Solomon. He was one of Solomon’s officials. He was from Zeredah in the territory of Ephraim. His father was Nebat. His mother was a widow named Zeruah.
27Here is the story of how Jeroboam refused to follow the king. Solomon had filled in the low places near the palace. He had also repaired the wall of the city of his father David. 28Jeroboam was a very important young man. Solomon saw how well he did his work. So he put him in charge of all the workers in northern Israel.
29About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem. Ahijah the prophet met him on the road. Ahijah was from Shiloh. He was wearing a new coat. The two of them were all alone out in the country. 30Ahijah grabbed the new coat he had on. He tore it up into 12 pieces. 31Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself. The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, ‘I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand. I will give you ten of its tribes. 32Solomon will have one of its tribes. I will let him keep it because of my servant David and because of Jerusalem. I have chosen that city out of all the cities in the tribes of Israel. 33I will do these things because the tribes have deserted me. They have worshiped Ashtoreth, the female god of the people of Sidon. They have worshiped Chemosh, the god of the people of Moab. And they have worshiped Molek, the god of the people of Ammon. They have not lived the way I wanted them to. They have not done what is right in my eyes. They have not obeyed my rules and laws as Solomon’s father David did.
34“ ‘But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon’s hand. I have made him ruler all the days of his life. I have done it because of my servant David. I chose him, and he obeyed my commands and rules. 35I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hands. And I will give you ten of the tribes. 36I will give one of the tribes to David’s son. Then my servant David will always have a son on his throne in Jerusalem. The lamp of David’s kingdom will always burn brightly in my sight. Jerusalem is the city I chose for my Name. 37But I will make you king over Israel. You will rule over everything your heart desires. So you will be the king of Israel. 38Do everything I command you to do. Live the way I want you to. Do what is right in my eyes. Obey my rules and commands. That is what my servant David did. If you do those things, I will be with you. I will build you a kingdom. It will last as long as the one I built for David. I will give Israel to you. 39I will punish David’s family because of what Solomon has done. But I will not punish them forever.’ ”
40Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam ran away to Egypt. He went to Shishak, the king of Egypt. He stayed there until Solomon died.
Solomon Dies
41The other events of Solomon’s rule are written down. Everything he did and the wisdom he showed are written down. They are written in the official records of Solomon. 42Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over the whole nation of Israel for 40 years. 43Then he joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in the city of his father David. Solomon’s son Rehoboam became the next king after him.
Currently Selected:
1 Kings 11: NIrV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
1 Kings 11
11
Solomon and His Many Wives
1King Solomon loved many foreign women, including the daughter of Pharaoh and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and the Hittites. 2In the past the Lord had said to the Israelites, “You must not marry people from other nations. If you do, they will cause you to follow their gods.” But Solomon fell in love with these women. 3He had 700 wives who were the daughters of leaders from other nations. He also had 300 slave women who were like wives to him. His wives caused him to turn away from God. 4When Solomon was old, his wives caused him to follow other gods, so he did not follow the Lord completely as his father David did. 5Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of Sidon, and Milcom, the horrible god of the Ammonites. 6So Solomon did what the Lord said was wrong. He did not follow the Lord completely as his father David did.
7On the mountain next to Jerusalem, Solomon built a place for worshiping Chemosh, that horrible idol of the Moabites. On the same mountain, Solomon built a place for worshiping Molech, that horrible idol of the Ammonites. 8Solomon did the same thing for all of his other foreign wives who burned incense and gave sacrifices to their gods.
9So Solomon did not remain faithful to the Lord, the God of Israel, even though God had appeared to him twice. The Lord became angry with him. 10He had told Solomon that he must not follow other gods, but Solomon did not obey the Lord’s command. 11So the Lord said to Solomon, “You have chosen to break your agreement with me. You have not obeyed my commands. So I promise that I will tear your kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants. 12But I loved your father David, so I will not take your kingdom away from you while you are alive. I will wait until your son becomes king. Then I will take it from him. 13Still, I will not tear away all the kingdom from your son. I will leave him one tribe to rule. I will do this for my servant David and for Jerusalem, the city I chose.”
Solomon’s Enemies
14Then the Lord raised up Hadad the Edomite to become Solomon’s enemy. Hadad was from the royal family of Edom. 15This is how it happened. In the past David fought against Edom. Joab was the commander of David’s army. Joab went to Edom to bury his dead soldiers. While there Joab killed all the Edomite men who were still alive. 16Joab and the men of Israel stayed in Edom for six months until they killed all the men of Edom. 17At the time Hadad was only a young boy. He and some of his father’s servants ran away to Egypt. 18They left Midian and went to Paran. In Paran some other people joined them and the whole group went to Egypt. They went to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and asked for help. Pharaoh gave Hadad a house, some land, and food to eat.
19Pharaoh liked Hadad so much that he gave Hadad a wife. She was Pharaoh’s sister-in-law. (Pharaoh’s wife was Queen Tahpenes.) 20Hadad and the sister of Tahpenes had a son named Genubath. Queen Tahpenes let Genubath grow up in Pharaoh’s house with his children.
21In Egypt Hadad heard that David had died and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead. So Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me go home to my own country.”
22But Pharaoh answered, “I have given you everything you need here. Why do you want to go back to your own country?”
Hadad answered, “Please, just let me go home.”
23God also raised up another man to become one of Solomon’s enemies. This man was Rezon, son of Eliada. Rezon ran away from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah. 24After David defeated the army of Zobah, Rezon gathered some men and became the leader of a small army. He went to Damascus and stayed there to rule from Damascus. 25Rezon became the king of Aram. He was an enemy of Israel throughout Solomon’s life and added to the trouble that Hadad created for Israel.
26There was also another person who became an enemy of Solomon. He was Jeroboam son of Nebat. He was an Ephraimite from the town of Zeredah. His mother was a widow named Zeruah. He was one of Solomon’s servants, but he rebelled against the king.
27This is the story about how Jeroboam turned against the king. Solomon was building the Millo and repairing the wall around the city of David, his father. 28Jeroboam was a free man.#11:28 free man Or “a nobleman,” someone who could be called to war to protect his people. Solomon saw that this young man was a skilled worker, so he made him the supervisor over all the workers from the tribes that descended from Joseph. 29One day as Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him on the road. They were alone out in the country, and Ahijah was wearing a new coat.
30Ahijah took his new coat and tore it into twelve pieces. 31Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces of this coat for yourself because the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will tear the kingdom away from Solomon, and I will give you ten of the tribes. 32I will let David’s family keep only one tribe. I will do this because of my servant David and because of Jerusalem, the city that I chose from among all the tribes of Israel. 33I will take the kingdom from Solomon because he stopped following me and began worshiping Ashtoreth, the goddess of Sidon; Chemosh, the god of Moab; and Milcom, the god of the Ammonites. Solomon stopped following my ways and doing what I say is right. He does not obey my laws and commands as his father David did. 34So I will take the kingdom away from Solomon’s family. I chose David because he obeyed all my laws and commands. So for my servant David, I will let Solomon be the king for the rest of his life. 35But Jeroboam, I will take the ten tribes away from his son and give them to you. 36I will let Solomon’s son keep one tribe to rule over. I will do this for my servant David, so he will always have someone to rule near me in Jerusalem, the city that I chose to be my own. 37But I will make you king of Israel.#11:37 Israel That is, the northern ten tribes. You will rule over everything you want. 38If you live right and obey all my commands as David did, I will be with you and make your family a family of kings, just as I did for David. And you will have Israel as your kingdom. 39I will punish David’s descendants because of what Solomon did, but not forever.’”
Solomon’s Death
40Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam ran away to Egypt. He went to King Shishak of Egypt and stayed there until Solomon died.
41Everything else Solomon did, from the beginning to the end, is written in the book, The History of Solomon. 42Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for 40 years. 43Then he died#11:43 died Literally, “slept with his ancestors.” and was buried in the city of David, his father. Then Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, became the next king after him.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 1987, 2004 Bible League International