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Solomon Turns from God

¹ Now ^(C1)King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,² from the nations of which the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, "^(C1)You shall not ^(F1)associate with them, nor shall they ^(F1)associate with you; they will certainly turn your heart away ^(F2)to follow their gods." Solomon clung to these in love.^3 (C1)He had seven hundred wives, who were ^(F1)princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned his heart away.⁴ For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away ^(F1)to follow other gods; and ^(C1)his heart was not ^(F2)wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of his father David had been.⁵ For Solomon became a follower of ^(C1)Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and of ^(F1)(C2)Milcom the abhorrent idol of the Ammonites.⁶ So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow the LORD fully, as his father David had done.⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for ^(C1)Chemosh, the abhorrent idol of Moab, on the mountain that is ^(F1)east of Jerusalem, and for ^(C2)Molech, the abhorrent idol of the sons of Ammon.⁸ He also did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

⁹ Now ^(C1)the LORD was angry with Solomon ^(C2)because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, ^(C3)who had appeared to him twice,¹⁰ and ^(C1)had commanded him regarding this thing, that he was not to follow other gods; but he did not comply with what the LORD had commanded.¹¹ So the LORD said to Solomon, "Since ^(F1)you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, ^(C1)I will certainly tear the kingdom away from you, and will give it to your servant.¹² "However, I will not do it in your days, only for the sake of your father David; but I will tear it away from the hand of your son.¹³ "Yet ^(C1)I will not tear away all the kingdom, but ^(C2)I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and ^(C3)for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen."

God Raises Adversaries

¹⁴ Then the LORD raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the ^(F1)royal line in Edom.¹⁵ For it came about, ^(C1)when David was in Edom and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury those killed in battle, and had ^(C2)struck and killed every male in Edom¹⁶ (for Joab and all Israel stayed there for six months, until he had eliminated every male in Edom),¹⁷ that Hadad fled ^(F1)to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with him, while Hadad was a young boy.¹⁸ They set out from Midian and came to ^(C1)Paran; and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and assigned him food and gave him land.¹⁹ Now Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.²⁰ And the sister of Tahpenes gave birth to his son Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh's house among the sons of Pharaoh.²¹ But ^(C1)when Hadad heard in Egypt that David ^(F1)lay down with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, "Let me go, so that I may go to my own country."²² However, Pharaoh said to him, "But what have you lacked with me that you are here, requesting to go to your own country?" And he answered, "Nothing; nevertheless you must let me go."

^23 (C1)God also raised up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master ^(C2)Hadadezer, king of Zobah.²⁴ And he gathered men to himself and became leader of a marauding band, ^(C1)after David killed those of Zobah; and they went to Damascus and stayed ^(F1)there, and reigned in Damascus.²⁵ So he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, along with the harm that Hadad inflicted; and he felt disgust for Israel and reigned over Aram.

²⁶ Then ^(C1)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, Solomon's servant, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow, ^(C2)also ^(F1)rebelled against the king.²⁷ Now this was the reason why he ^(F1)rebelled against the king: ^(C1)Solomon built the ^(F2)Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of his father David.²⁸ Now the man Jeroboam was a valiant warrior, and when ^(C1)Solomon saw that the young man was ^(F1)industrious, he appointed him over all the ^(F2)forced labor of the house of Joseph.²⁹ And it came about at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that ^(C1)the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now ^(F1)Ahijah had clothed himself with a new cloak; and both of them were alone in the field.³⁰ Then ^(C1)Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which was on him and tore it into twelve pieces.³¹ And he said to Jeroboam, "Take for yourself ten pieces; for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: 'Behold, ^(C1)I am going to tear the kingdom away from the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes³² (^(C1)but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, ^(C2)the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel),³³ because they have abandoned Me, and ^(C1)have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, ^(C2)Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways, doing what is right in My sight and keeping My statutes and My ordinances, as his father David did.³⁴ 'Nevertheless I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of My servant David whom I chose, who kept My commandments and My statutes;³⁵ but ^(C1)I will take the kingdom from his son's hand and give it to you; that is, ten tribes.³⁶ 'But ^(C1)to his son I will give one tribe, ^(C2)so that My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, ^(C1)the city where I have chosen for Myself to put My name.³⁷ 'However I will take you, and you shall reign over all that ^(F1)you desire, and you shall be king over Israel.³⁸ 'Then it shall be, that if you listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight by keeping My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then ^(C1)I will be with you and ^(C2)build you an enduring house as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.³⁹ 'So I will oppress the ^(F1)descendants of David for this, but not always.'"⁴⁰ Solomon sought therefore to put Jeroboam to death; but Jeroboam set out and fled to Egypt to ^(C1)Shishak king of Egypt, and he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

The Death of Solomon

^41 (C1)Now the rest of the acts of Solomon and whatever he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon?⁴² So ^(C1)the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.⁴³ Then Solomon ^(F1)(C1)lay down with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David, and his son ^(C2)Rehoboam reigned in his place.