1 Kings 11

Solomon Falls Off & Trouble Starts Brewing

1 Now, King Solomon, besides Pharaoh’s daughter, loved a whole lot of foreign women, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites.

2 From the nations the Lord had warned the Israelites about, saying, “You all are not supposed to mingle with them, and they are not supposed to mingle with you, because they will definitely sway your heart to their gods.” But Solomon got tangled up with them anyway, because he loved them.

3 He had seven hundred royal wives and three hundred side chicks, and his women ended up twisting his heart.

4 By the time Solomon was old, his women had turned his heart to other gods, and his heart was not fully committed to the Lord his God, like his daddy David’s heart was.

5 Solomon started following Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the disgusting idol of the Ammonites.

6 So Solomon did what was whack in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, like his daddy David did.

7 That is when Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the disgusting idol of Moab, on the hill east of Jerusalem, and for Molech, the disgusting idol of the Ammonites.

8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and sacrificing to their own gods.

9 The Lord got heated with Solomon because his heart had strayed from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.

10 And He had straight up commanded him not to follow other gods. But Solomon did not keep what the Lord had ordered.

11 So the Lord told Solomon, “Since you went and did this, and did not keep My covenant and My rules that I commanded you, I am definitely going to snatch the kingdom from you and give it to your servant.”

12 “But for your daddy David’s sake, I am not going to do it in your lifetime. I am going to snatch it from the hand of your son.”

13 “Still, I am not going to snatch the whole kingdom away. I will leave one tribe for your son, for the sake of My boy David and for Jerusalem, the city I chose.”

Solomon’s Enemies

14 Then the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon: Hadad the Edomite, from the royal family in Edom.

15 Because back when David was at war with Edom, Joab, the commander of the army, went up to bury the dead and ended up killing every male in Edom.

16 (Joab and all Israel stayed there for six months until they wiped out every male in Edom.)

17 But Hadad, who was just a little kid, escaped with some Edomite servants of his daddy’s, and they headed for Egypt.

18 They bounced from Midian and came to Paran. They picked up some dudes from Paran and rolled up to Egypt, to Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Pharaoh gave him a pad, food, and some land.

19 Hadad found so much favor with Pharaoh that Pharaoh gave him his own sister-in-law, the sister of Queen Tahpenes, as his wife.

20 The sister of Tahpenes birthed him a son named Genubath, whom Tahpenes raised in Pharaoh’s palace. So Genubath lived in Pharaoh’s palace among Pharaoh’s own kids.

21 When Hadad heard in Egypt that David had passed away and that Joab, the commander of the army, was also dead, Hadad told Pharaoh, “Let me dip. I want to go back to my own land.”

22 Pharaoh asked him, “What are you missing here with me that makes you want to go back to your own land?” He replied, “Nothing, just let me go.”

23 God also raised up another adversary against Solomon: Rezon, son of Eliada, who had fled from his master Hadadezer, king of Zobah.

24 He had gathered some dudes around him and became a leader of a raiding party when David messed up Hadadezer’s crew. So they went to Damascus, settled there, and made him king in Damascus.

25 He was an enemy of Israel all the days of Solomon’s life, adding to the trouble Hadad caused. He hated Israel and ruled over Aram.

Jeroboam’s Rise

26 Jeroboam son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, one of Solomon’s own officials, his mama’s name was Zeruah, a widow, he also lifted his hand against the king.

27 This is why he rebelled against the king: Solomon built the Millo and closed up the gap in the wall of the City of David his father.

28 Now, Jeroboam was a strong, capable dude. When Solomon saw how well the young man did his work, he put him in charge of all the forced labor from the house of Joseph.

29 It happened at that time, as Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road. Ahijah was wearing a brand new cloak, and the two of them were alone out in the field.

30 Then Ahijah grabbed the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.

31 And he told Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, because this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Look, I am about to snatch the kingdom from Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes.’”

32 “(But one tribe will remain for him, for the sake of My boy David and for Jerusalem, the city I chose out of all the tribes of Israel.)”

33 “’Because they ditched Me and bowed down to Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh, the god of Moab, and Molech, the god of the Ammonites. They have not walked in My ways by doing what is right in My eyes and keeping My rules and My laws, like his daddy David did.’”

34 “’But I am not going to snatch the whole kingdom from his hand. I will let him be ruler for all his days, for the sake of My boy David, whom I chose, who kept My commands and My rules.’”

35 “’But I am going to snatch the kingdom from his son’s hand and give you ten tribes.’”

36 “’And to his son I will leave one tribe, so that My boy David will always have a lamp burning before Me in Jerusalem, the city I chose for Myself to put My Name there.’”

37 “’I will take you, and you will rule over whatever your heart desires; you will be king over Israel.’”

38 “’If you listen to everything I command you and walk in My ways and do what is right in My eyes by keeping My rules and My commands, just like My boy David did, then I will be with you. I will build you a solid house, just like I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.’”

39 “’And I will bring trouble on David’s descendants for this, but not forever.’”

40 Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam bounced, headed for Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and he stayed in Egypt until Solomon passed away.

Solomon’s Death

41 As for the rest of Solomon’s story, everything he did, and his wisdom, is it not all written in the book of the Annals of Solomon,

42 Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years.

43 Then Solomon passed away and joined his ancestors. He was buried in the City of David his father. And his son Rehoboam took over as king.