1 Kings 11

11 ¹King Solomon loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, Hittites,

²from the nations our Father had told the children of Israel, "You must not intermarry with them, nor they with you, for they will surely turn your heart after their gods." Solomon clung to these in love.

³He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. ⁴When Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart to other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to our Father, as David his father's had been. ⁵Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. ⁶Solomon did evil in the eyes of our Father and did not fully follow our Father, as his father David had done. ⁷Then Solomon built a high place on the mountain east of Jerusalem for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁸So he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

⁹Our Father was angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from our Father, the God of Israel, who appeared to him twice, ¹⁰and commanded him about this very thing, not to follow other gods. But he did not keep what our Father commanded.

¹¹So our Father told Solomon, "Since this is your way and you haven't kept my covenant and statutes that I commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant.

¹²"But for David your father's sake I won't do it in your lifetime; I'll tear it from your son's hand. ¹³Yet I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give your son one tribe, for the sake of David my servant and of Jerusalem, which I have chosen."

The Father Raises up Hadad

¹⁴Then our Father raised up an adversary against Solomon: Hadad the Edomite, of the royal line in Edom. ¹⁵When David fought Edom and Joab the army commander went up to bury the dead, Joab had struck down every male in Edom. ¹⁶(Joab and all Israel stayed there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom.). ¹⁷But Hadad fled to Egypt with some Edomites from his father's servants; Hadad was still a young boy. ¹⁸They left Midian for Paran, took men with them from Paran, and went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house, food, and land. ¹⁹Hadad found great favor in Pharaoh's sight, so he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Queen Tahpenes. ²⁰Tahpenes' sister bore him a son, Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house; Genubath lived there among Pharaoh's sons. ²¹When Hadad heard in Egypt that David rested with his fathers and Joab the army commander was dead, he said to Pharaoh, "Let me go, so I return to my own country."

²²Pharaoh said, "What have you lacked here, that now you want to go to your own country?" He replied, "Nothing, but please let me go."

²³Our Father also raised another adversary against Solomon: Rezon son of Eliada, who fled from his master Hadadezer king of Zobah. ²⁴He gathered men and led a raiding band after David killed the men of Zobah. They went to Damascus, settled there, and made him king in Damascus. ²⁵Rezon opposed Israel all Solomon's days, adding to the harm Hadad also caused; he hated Israel and reigned over Aram.

Jeroboam Lifts His Hand

²⁶Jeroboam son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, Solomon's servant whose mother was a widow named Zeruah, also rebelled against the king. ²⁷This is why he raised his hand against the king: Solomon built the Millo and closed the breach in the city of David his father. ²⁸Jeroboam was a very capable man, and when Solomon saw the young man worked hard, he put him in charge of all the forced labor of Joseph's house. ²⁹At that time Jeroboam left Jerusalem, and Ahijah the Shilonite, the prophet, met him on the road. Ahijah was wrapped in a new cloak, and the two were alone in the field. ³⁰Then Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.

³¹He said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces for yourself, for our Father, the God of Israel, says: 'Look, I am about to tear the kingdom from Solomon's hand and give you ten tribes.

³²"But one tribe will remain his, for my servant David and for Jerusalem, the city I chose from all the tribes of Israel. ³³I will do this because they abandoned me and worshiped Ashtoreth goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh god of Moab, and Milcom god of the Ammonites, and did not walk in my ways—doing what is right in my eyes, keeping my statutes and rules—as his father David did.

³⁴But I will not take the whole kingdom from his hand; I will keep him ruler all his life, for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose, who kept my commands and my statutes. ³⁵But I will take the kingdom from his son's hand and give it to you—ten tribes. ³⁶But to his son I will give one tribe, so David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city I chose to place my name. ^a a v36 Even in judgment, our Father keeps a lamp burning for David's line—the unbroken light he is guarding all the way to Jesus, the Son of David in whom that line never goes dark. ³⁷I will take you, and you will reign over all your heart desires; you will be king over Israel. ³⁸If you obey all I command, walk in my ways, and do right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and commandments as David my servant did, I will be with you and build you a lasting house, as I built for David, and give Israel to you. ³⁹I will bring suffering on David's offspring for this, but not forever.'"

⁴⁰So Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and stayed there until Solomon died.

Solomon Rests With His Fathers

⁴¹The rest of Solomon's acts, all he did and his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? ⁴²The time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. ⁴³Then Solomon rested with his ancestors, buried in the city of David his father, and his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.