Now ^aKing 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, “^aYou shall not ¹associate with them, nor shall they ²associate with you; they will certainly turn your heart away ³to follow their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 ^aHe had seven hundred wives, who were ¹princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned his heart away. 4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away ¹to follow other gods; and ^ahis heart was not ²wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of his father David had been. 5 For Solomon became a follower of ^aAshtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and of ^1bMilcom 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 ^aChemosh, the abhorrent idol of Moab, on the mountain that is ¹east of Jerusalem, and for ^bMolech, 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 ^athe LORD was angry with Solomon ^bbecause his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, ^cwho had appeared to him twice, 10 and ^ahad 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 ¹you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, ^aI 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 ^aI will not tear away all the kingdom, but ^bI will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and ^cfor the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

14 Then the LORD raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the ¹royal line in Edom. 15 For it came about, ^awhen David was in Edom and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury those killed in battle, and had ^bstruck and killed every male in Edom 16 (for Joab and all Israel stayed there for six months, until he had eliminated every male in Edom), 17 that Hadad fled ¹to 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 ^aParan; 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 ^awhen Hadad heard in Egypt that David ¹lay 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 ^aGod also raised up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master ^bHadadezer, king of Zobah. 24 And he gathered men to himself and became leader of a marauding band, ^aafter David killed those of Zobah; and they went to Damascus and stayed ¹there, 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 ^aJeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, ^balso ¹rebelled against the king. 27 Now this was the reason why he ¹rebelled against the king: ^aSolomon built the ²Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of his father David. 28 Now the man Jeroboam was a valiant warrior, and when ^aSolomon saw that the young man was ¹industrious, he appointed him over all the ²forced labor of the house of Joseph. 29 And it came about at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that ^athe prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now ¹Ahijah had clothed himself with a new cloak; and both of them were alone in the field. 30 Then ^aAhijah 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, ^aI am going to tear the kingdom away from the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes 32 ^a(but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, ^bthe city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel), 33 because they have abandoned Me, and ^ahave worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, ^bChemosh 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 ^aI will take the kingdom from his son’s hand and give it to you; that is, ten tribes. 36 But ^ato his son I will give one tribe, ^bso that My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, ^cthe city where I have chosen for Myself to put My name. 37 However I will take you, and you shall reign over all that ¹you 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 ^aI will be with you and ^bbuild you an enduring house as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39 So I will oppress the ¹descendants 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 ^aShishak king of Egypt, and he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

41 ^aNow 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 ^athe time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. 43 Then Solomon ^1alay down with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David, and his son ^bRehoboam reigned in his place.

Now ^aking Solomon defiantly loved ¹many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the very nations of whom the LORD said to the Israelites, “^aYou shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for the result will be that they will turn away your hearts to follow their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these in love. Deut 17:17 3 ^aHe had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred ¹concubines, and his wives turned his heart away from God. 4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and ^ahis heart was not completely devoted to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David. 5 For Solomon went after ^aAshtoreth, the fertility goddess of the Sidonians, and after ^bMilcom the horror (detestable idol) of the Ammonites. 1+@Kin 9:6-9 6 Solomon did evil things in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow the LORD fully, as his father David had done. 7 Then Solomon built a ¹high place for worshiping ^aChemosh the horror (detestable idol) of Moab, on the hill which is east of Jerusalem, and for ^bMolech the horror (detestable idol) of the sons of Ammon. 8 And he did the same for all of his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

9 So ^athe LORD became angry with Solomon ^bbecause his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, ^cwho had appeared to him twice, 10 and ^ahad commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not follow other gods; but he did not observe (remember, obey) what the LORD had commanded. 11 Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, “Because you have done this and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, ^aI will certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. 12 However, I will not do it in your ¹lifetime, for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son (Rehoboam) . 13 However, ^aI will not tear away all the kingdom; I ^bwill give one tribe (Judah) to your son for the sake of My servant David and ^cfor the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”

14 Then the LORD stirred up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of royal descent in Edom. 15 For it came about, ^awhen David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury those killed in battle and had ^bstruck down every male in Edom 16 (for Joab and all the army of Israel stayed there six months, until he had killed every male in Edom), 17 that Hadad escaped to Egypt, he and some Edomites from his father’s servants with him, while Hadad was still a little boy. 18 They set out from Midian south of Edom and came to ^aParan, and took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave young Hadad a house and ordered food and provisions for him and gave him land. 19 Hadad found great favor with Pharaoh, so that he gave Hadad in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. 20 The sister of Tahpenes gave birth to Genubath, Hadad’s son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s household among the sons of Pharaoh. 21 But ^awhen Hadad heard in Egypt that David ¹had died and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me leave, so that I may go to my own country.” 22 Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me that now you ask to go to your own country?” He replied, “Nothing; nevertheless you must let me go.”

23 ^aGod also stirred up another adversary for Solomon, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, ^bHadadezer king of Zobah. 24 Rezon gathered men to himself and became leader of a marauding band, ^aafter David killed those in Zobah. They went to Damascus and stayed there and they reigned in Damascus. 2+@Sam 10:8, 18 25 So Rezon was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, along with the evil that Hadad inflicted. Rezon hated Israel and reigned over Aram (Syria) .

26 ^aJeroboam, Solomon’s servant, the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zeredah whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, also ^brebelled against the king. 27 Now this is the reason why he rebelled against the king: ^aSolomon built the Millo (fortification) and he repaired and closed the breach of the city of his father David. 28 The man Jeroboam was a brave warrior and when ^aSolomon saw that the young man was industrious, he put him in charge of all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. 29 It came about at that time, when Jeroboam left Jerusalem, that ^athe prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road. Now Ahijah had covered himself with a new cloak; and the two of them were alone in the field. 30 ^aThen Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 He said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself; for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, ^aI am going to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes— 32 ^abut he and his descendants shall have ¹one tribe (Benjamin was annexed to Judah) , for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, ^bthe city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel— 33 because ¹they have abandoned Me and ^ahave worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, ^bChemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways and followed My commandments, doing what is right in My sight and keeping My statutes and My ordinances as did his father David. 34 However, I will not take the entire 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 because he kept My commandments and My statutes. 35 But ^aI will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and give it to you: ten tribes. 36 Yet ^ato his son I will give ¹one tribe, ^bso that My servant David may have a ²lamp always before Me in Jerusalem, ^cthe city where I have chosen to put My Name and Presence. 37 I will take you Jeroboam, and you shall reign over whatever your soul desires; and you shall be king over Israel (the ten northern tribes) . 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, keeping and observing My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then ^aI will be with you and ^bbuild you an enduring house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39 And in this way I will afflict the descendants of David for this (their sin) , but not forever.’” 40 So Solomon attempted to kill Jeroboam; but Jeroboam set out and escaped to Egypt, to ^aShishak king of Egypt, and stayed in Egypt until Solomon died.

41 ^aThe rest of the acts of Solomon—and all that he did, and his wisdom—are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon? 42 The ^atime Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. 43 And Solomon ^aslept in death with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. ^bRehoboam his son reigned in his place.