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1 Kings 11
International Children’s Bible
1 Kings 11
International Children’s Bible
Solomon’s Many Wives
11 But King Solomon loved many women who were not from Israel. He loved the daughter of the king of Egypt. He also loved women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 The Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not marry people of other nations. If you do, they will cause you to follow their gods.” But Solomon fell in love with these women. 3 He had 700 wives who were from royal families. He also had 300 slave women who gave birth to his children. His wives caused him to turn away from God. 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives caused him to follow other gods. He did not follow the Lord completely as his father David had done. 5 Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the people of Sidon. And he worshiped Molech, the hated god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did what the Lord said was wrong. He did not follow the Lord completely as his father David had done.
7 On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built two places for worship. He built a place to worship Chemosh, the hated god of the Moabites. And he built a place to worship Molech, the hated god of the Ammonites. 8 Solomon did the same thing for all of his foreign wives. So they burned incense and gave sacrifices to their gods.
9 The Lord had appeared to Solomon twice. But Solomon turned away from following the Lord, the God of Israel. So the Lord was angry with him. 10 The Lord had commanded Solomon not to follow other gods. But Solomon did not obey the Lord’s command. 11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “You have chosen to break your agreement with me. You have not obeyed my commands. So I promise I will tear your kingdom away from you. I will give it to one of your officers. 12 But I will not take it away while you are alive. This is because of my love for your father David. I will tear it away from your son when he becomes king. 13 But I will not tear away all the kingdom from him. I will leave him one tribe to rule. I will do this because of David, my servant. And I will do it because of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen.”
Solomon’s Enemies
14 Now Hadad was a member of the family of the king of Edom. And the Lord caused Hadad the Edomite to become Solomon’s enemy. 15 Earlier, David had defeated Edom. Joab, the commander of David’s army, went into Edom to bury the dead. While he was there, he killed all the males. 16 Joab and all the Israelites stayed in Edom for six months. During that time they killed every male in Edom. 17 But at that time Hadad was only a young boy. So he ran away to Egypt with some of his father’s officers. 18 They left Midian and went to Paran. In Paran other men joined them. Then they all went to Egypt to see the king. He gave Hadad a house, some land and food to eat.
19 The king liked Hadad so much he gave Hadad a wife. She was the sister of Tahpenes, the king’s wife. 20 They had a son named Genubath. Queen Tahpenes allowed him to grow up in the royal palace. So he grew up with the king’s own children.
21 While he was in Egypt, Hadad heard that David had died. He also heard that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead. So Hadad said to the king, “Let me go home. Let me return to my own country.”
22 But the king said, “Why do you want to go back to your own country? What haven’t I given you here?”
Hadad answered, “Nothing. But please, let me go.”
23 God also caused another man to be an enemy to Solomon. This man was Rezon son of Eliada. Rezon had run away from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah. 24 After David defeated the army of Zobah, Rezon gathered some men. He became the leader of a small army. They went to Damascus and settled there. And Rezon became king of Damascus. 25 Rezon ruled Aram, and he hated Israel. So he was an enemy of Israel all the time Solomon was alive. Rezon and Hadad caused some trouble for Israel.
26 Jeroboam son of Nebat was one of Solomon’s officers. Jeroboam was one of the Ephraimite people. He was from the town of Zeredah. His mother was a widow named Zeruah. He turned against the king.
27 This is the story of how Jeroboam turned against the king. Solomon was filling in the land on the east side of Jerusalem. He was also repairing the wall of Jerusalem. It was the city of David, his ancestor. 28 Jeroboam was a capable man. Solomon saw that this young man was a good worker. So Solomon put him over all the workers from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.
29 One day Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem. Ahijah, the prophet from Shiloh, met him on the road. Ahijah was wearing a new coat. The two men were alone out in the country. 30 Ahijah took his new coat and tore it into 12 pieces. 31 Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take 10 pieces of this coat for yourself. The Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will tear the kingdom away from Solomon. Then I will give you 10 tribes. 32 But I will allow the family of David to control 1 tribe. I will do this for my servant David and for Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the city I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel. 33 I will do this because Solomon has stopped following me. He worships the Sidonian god Ashtoreth and the Moabite god Chemosh. He also worships Molech, the Ammonite god. Solomon has not obeyed me. He has not done what I said is right. He has not obeyed my laws and commands. He is not living the way his father David lived.
34 “‘But I will not take all the kingdom away from Solomon. I will let him rule all his life. I will do this because of my servant David. I chose David, and he obeyed all my commands and laws. 35 But I will take the kingdom away from his son. Jeroboam, I will allow you to rule over the 10 tribes. 36 I will allow Solomon’s son to continue to rule over 1 tribe. I will do this so that David, my servant, will always have a king before me in Jerusalem. It is the city where I chose to be worshiped. 37 But I will make you rule over everything you want. You will rule over all of Israel. 38 I will always be with you if you do what I say is right. You must obey all my commands. If you obey my laws and commands as David did, I will be with you. I will make your family a family of kings, as I did for David. I will give Israel to you. 39 I will punish David’s children because of this. But I will not punish them forever.’”
Solomon’s Death
40 Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam ran away to Egypt. He went to Shishak king of Egypt. And Jeroboam stayed there until Solomon died.
41 Everything else Solomon did is written down. He showed much wisdom. It is written in the book of the history of Solomon. 42 Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for 40 years. 43 Then he died and was buried in Jerusalem, the city of David, his father. And his son Rehoboam became king after him.
1 Kings 11
New International Version
1 Kings 11
New International Version
Solomon’s Wives
11 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women(A) besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites,(B) Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry(C) with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines,(D) and his wives led him astray.(E) 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods,(F) and his heart was not fully devoted(G) to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5 He followed Ashtoreth(H) the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek(I) the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil(J) in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.
7 On a hill east(K) of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh(L) the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek(M) the detestable god of the Ammonites. 8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.
9 The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared(N) to him twice. 10 Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods,(O) Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command.(P) 11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees,(Q) which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear(R) the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. 12 Nevertheless, for the sake of David(S) your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe(T) for the sake(U) of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”(V)
Solomon’s Adversaries
14 Then the Lord raised up against Solomon an adversary,(W) Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom. 15 Earlier when David was fighting with Edom, Joab the commander of the army, who had gone up to bury the dead, had struck down all the men in Edom.(X) 16 Joab and all the Israelites stayed there for six months, until they had destroyed all the men in Edom. 17 But Hadad, still only a boy, fled to Egypt with some Edomite officials who had served his father. 18 They set out from Midian and went to Paran.(Y) Then taking people from Paran with them, they went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house and land and provided him with food.
19 Pharaoh was so pleased with Hadad that he gave him a sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes, in marriage. 20 The sister of Tahpenes bore him a son named Genubath, whom Tahpenes brought up in the royal palace. There Genubath lived with Pharaoh’s own children.
21 While he was in Egypt, Hadad heard that David rested with his ancestors and that Joab the commander of the army was also dead. Then Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me go, that I may return to my own country.”
22 “What have you lacked here that you want to go back to your own country?” Pharaoh asked.
“Nothing,” Hadad replied, “but do let me go!”
23 And God raised up against Solomon another adversary,(Z) Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer(AA) king of Zobah. 24 When David destroyed Zobah’s army, Rezon gathered a band of men around him and became their leader; they went to Damascus,(AB) where they settled and took control. 25 Rezon was Israel’s adversary as long as Solomon lived, adding to the trouble caused by Hadad. So Rezon ruled in Aram(AC) and was hostile toward Israel.
Jeroboam Rebels Against Solomon
26 Also, Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled(AD) against the king. He was one of Solomon’s officials, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, and his mother was a widow named Zeruah.
27 Here is the account of how he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built the terraces[a](AE) and had filled in the gap in the wall of the city of David his father. 28 Now Jeroboam was a man of standing,(AF) and when Solomon saw how well(AG) the young man did his work, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the tribes of Joseph.
29 About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and Ahijah(AH) the prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone out in the country, 30 and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore(AI) it into twelve pieces. 31 Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘See, I am going to tear(AJ) the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes. 32 But for the sake(AK) of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe. 33 I will do this because they have[b] forsaken me and worshiped(AL) Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molek the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked(AM) in obedience to me, nor done what is right in my eyes, nor kept my decrees(AN) and laws as David, Solomon’s father, did.
34 “‘But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon’s hand; I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose and who obeyed my commands and decrees. 35 I will take the kingdom from his son’s hands and give you ten tribes. 36 I will give one tribe(AO) to his son so that David my servant may always have a lamp(AP) before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name. 37 However, as for you, I will take you, and you will rule(AQ) over all that your heart desires;(AR) you will be king over Israel. 38 If you do whatever I command you and walk in obedience to me and do what is right(AS) in my eyes by obeying my decrees(AT) and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty(AU) as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you. 39 I will humble David’s descendants because of this, but not forever.’”
40 Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled(AV) to Egypt, to Shishak(AW) the king, and stayed there until Solomon’s death.
Solomon’s Death(AX)
41 As for the other events of Solomon’s reign—all he did and the wisdom he displayed—are they not written in the book of the annals of Solomon? 42 Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 43 Then he rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam(AY) his son succeeded him as king.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 11:27 Or the Millo
- 1 Kings 11:33 Hebrew; Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac because he has
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