1 Wafalme 11

Solomon’s wives turn his heart

¹King Solomon loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter: women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and the Hittites, ²from the nations the LORD had warned the Israelites about: “Do not intermarry with them, and do not let them intermarry with you, for they will surely turn your hearts to follow their gods.” Yet Solomon held fast to these women in love. ³He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. ⁴When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart to follow other gods, and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of his father David had been. ⁵Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the detestable god of the Ammonites.^{a 6}So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not follow the LORD wholeheartedly, as his father David had done.

⁷At that time Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab on the hill east of Jerusalem, and one for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites.^{b 8}He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned offerings and sacrificed to their gods. ⁹The LORD became angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had twice appeared to him ¹⁰and had commanded him about this very matter, that he must not follow other gods. But Solomon did not keep what the LORD had commanded.

Judgment on Solomon

¹¹So the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this is what you have done, and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I commanded you, I will certainly tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant. ¹²Yet I will not do it in your lifetime, for the sake of your father David. I will tear it out of your son’s hand. ¹³But I will not tear away the whole kingdom. I will give your son one tribe because of my servant David and because of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.” ¹⁴Then the LORD raised up an adversary against Solomon: Hadad the Edomite, who was of the royal family of Edom.^{c 15}Earlier, when David was at war with Edom, Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the dead and struck down every male in Edom; ¹⁶For Joab and all Israel stayed there six months, until he had destroyed every male in Edom. ¹⁷But Hadad escaped to Egypt with some Edomite officials who had served his father. Hadad was only a young boy at the time. ¹⁸They set out from Midian and came to Paran. Taking men with them from Paran, they came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt. Pharaoh provided Hadad with a house and food, and gave him land. ¹⁹Hadad won so much favor with Pharaoh that Pharaoh gave him his own wife’s sister in marriage, the sister of Queen Tahpenes. ²⁰Tahpenes’ sister bore him a son, Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s palace. Genubath lived in Pharaoh’s household among Pharaoh’s own sons. ²¹While in Egypt, Hadad heard that David had rested with his ancestors and that Joab the commander of the army was dead. So Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me go, so that I may return to my own country.” ²²Pharaoh said to him, “What do you lack here with me, that you now want to go back to your own country?” “Nothing,” Hadad answered, “but please let me go!” ²³God also raised up another adversary against Solomon, Rezon son of Eliada, who had run away from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah. ²⁴He gathered men around him and became commander of a band of raiders after David slaughtered the forces of Zobah. They went to Damascus, settled there, and ruled in Damascus. ²⁵Rezon was Israel’s adversary as long as Solomon lived, adding to the harm that Hadad did. He loathed Israel and reigned over Aram.^d

Ahijah’s word to Jeroboam

²⁶Jeroboam son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, was one of Solomon’s officials. His mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow. He rebelled against the king. ²⁷This is how he came to rebel against the king. Solomon had built the Millo and closed up the gap in the wall of the City of David his father. ²⁸Jeroboam was a strong and capable man. When Solomon saw how well the young man did his work, he put him in charge of all the forced labor of the house of Joseph.

²⁹At that time, as Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road. Ahijah had on a new cloak, and the two were alone out in the country. ³⁰Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.^{e 31}Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for the LORD, the God of Israel, says this: ‘I am about to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes, ³²but one tribe will remain his because of my servant David and because of Jerusalem, the city I chose from among all the tribes of Israel,^{f 33}because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites. They have not followed my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my rulings, as his father David did.^{g 34}Still, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand. I will keep him as leader all the days of his life, for the sake of my servant David, whom I chose and who kept my commandments and my statutes. ³⁵But I will take the kingdom from his son’s hand and give you ten tribes of it. ³⁶To his son I will give one tribe, so that my servant David may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen for myself to put my name there. ³⁷As for you, I will take you, and you will reign over all that you desire; you will be king over Israel. ³⁸If you heed all that I command you, follow my ways, and do what is right in my sight by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as my servant David did, I will be with you. I will build you an enduring house, as I did for David, and I will make Israel yours. ³⁹Because of this I will humble David’s descendants, but not forever.’”^h

Jeroboam flees, and Solomon dies

⁴⁰Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and stayed there until Solomon died. ⁴¹The rest of the acts of Solomon, all that he did and his wisdom, are written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon. ⁴²Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. ⁴³Then Solomon rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David his father. And his son Rehoboam became king in his place.