Kings III 11
1 And king Solomon was a lover of women. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines. And he took strange women, as well as the daughter of Pharao, Moabitish, Ammanitish women, Syrians and Idumeans, Chettites, and Amorites;
King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women.
2 of the nations concerning whom the Lord forbade the children of Israel, [saying], You shall not go in to them, and they shall not come in to you, lest they turn away your hearts after their idols: Solomon clave to these in love.
These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love.
He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines—and his wives turned his heart away.
4 And it came to pass in the time of the old age of Solomon, that his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as [was] the heart of David his father. And the strange women turned away his heart after their gods. Then Solomon built a high place to Chamos the idol of Moab, and to their king the idol of the children of Ammon,
For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.
5 and to Astarte the abomination of the Sidonians.
Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
6 And thus he acted towards all his strange wives, who burnt incense and sacrificed to their idols. And Solomon did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he went not after the Lord, as David his father.
So Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD; unlike his father David, he did not follow the LORD completely.
At that time on a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites.
He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9 And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because he turned away his heart from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared twice to him,
Now the LORD grew angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.
10 and charged him concerning this matter, by no means to go after other gods, but to take heed to do what the Lord God commanded him; neither was his heart perfect with the Lord, according to the heart of David his father.
Although He had warned Solomon explicitly not to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD’s command.
11 And the Lord said to Solomon, Because it has been thus with you, and you have not kept my commandments and my ordinances which I commanded you, I will surely rend your kingdom out of your hand, and give it to your servant.
Then the LORD said to Solomon, “Because you have done this and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.
12 Only in your days I will not do it for David your father's sake: [but] I will take it out of the hand of your son.
Nevertheless, for the sake of your father David, I will not do it during your lifetime; I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
13 Only I will not take away the whole kingdom: I will give one tribe to your son for David my servant's sake, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen.
Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom away from him. I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”
14 And the Lord raised up an enemy to Solomon, Ader the Idumaean, and Esrom son of Eliadae who [lived] in Raama, [and] Adadezer king of Suba his master; (and men gathered to him, and he was head of the conspiracy, and he seized on Damasec, ) and they were adversaries to Israel all the days of Solomon: and Ader the Idumaean [was] of the seed royal in Idumaea.
Then the LORD raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom.
15 And it happened, that while David was utterly destroying Edom, while Joab captain of the host was going to bury the dead, when they killed every male in Idumaea;
Earlier, when David was in Edom, Joab the commander of the army had gone to bury the dead and had struck down every male in Edom.
16 (for Joab and all Israel abode there six months in Idumaea, until he utterly destroyed every male in Idumaea; )
Joab and all Israel had stayed there six months, until he had killed every male in Edom.
17 that Ader ran away, he and all the Idumaeans of the servants of his father with him; and they went into Egypt; and Ader [was then] a little child.
But Hadad, still just a young boy, had fled to Egypt, along with some Edomites who were servants of his father.
18 And there rise up men out of the city of Madiam, and they come to Pharan, and take men with them, and come to Pharao king of Egypt: and Ader went in to Pharao, and he gave him a house, and appointed him provision.
Hadad and his men set out from Midian and went to Paran. They took men from Paran with them and went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house and land and provided him with food.
19 And Ader found great favour in the sight of Pharao, and he gave him his wife's sister in marriage, the elder sister of Thekemina.
There Hadad found such great favor in the sight of Pharaoh that he gave to him in marriage the sister of Queen Tahpenes, his own wife.
20 And the sister of Thekemina bore to him, [even] to Ader, Ganebath her son; and Thekemina brought him up in the midst of the sons of Pharao, and Ganebath was in the midst of the sons of Pharao.
And the sister of Tahpenes bore Hadad a son named Genubath. Tahpenes herself weaned him in Pharaoh’s palace, and Genubath lived there among the sons of Pharaoh.
21 And Ader heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead; and Ader said to Pharao, Let me go, and I will return to my country.
When Hadad heard in Egypt that David had rested with his fathers and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead, he said to Pharaoh, “Let me go, that I may return to my own country.”
22 And Pharao said to Ader, What lack you with me? that behold! you seek to depart to your country? and Ader said to him, By all means let me go.
But Pharaoh asked him, “What have you lacked here with me that you suddenly want to go back to your own country?” “Nothing,” Hadad replied, “but please let me go.”
23 So Ader returned to his country; this [is] the mischief which Ader did, and he was a bitter enemy of Israel, and he reigned in the land of Edom.
And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah,
and had gathered men to himself. When David killed the Zobaites, Rezon captained a band of raiders and went to Damascus, where they settled and gained control.
Rezon was Israel’s enemy throughout the days of Solomon, adding to the trouble caused by Hadad. So Rezon ruled over Aram with hostility toward Israel.
26 And Jeroboam the son of Nabat, the Ephrathite of Sarira, the son of a widow, [was] servant of Solomon.
Now Jeroboam son of Nebat was an Ephraimite from Zeredah whose mother was a widow named Zeruah. Jeroboam was a servant of Solomon, but he rebelled against the king,
27 And this [was] the occasion of his lifting up [his] hands against king Solomon: now king Solomon built the citadel, he completed the fortification of the city of David his father.
and this is the account of his rebellion against the king. Solomon had built the supporting terraces and repaired the gap in the wall of the city of his father David.
28 And the man Jeroboam was very strong; and Solomon saw the young man that he was active, and he set him over the levies of the house of Joseph.
Now Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor. So when Solomon noticed that the young man was industrious, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the house of Joseph.
29 And it came to pass at that time, that Jeroboam went forth from Jerusalem, and Achia the Selonite the prophet found him in the way, and caused him to turn aside out of the way: and Achia was clad with a new garment, and they two [were] alone in the field.
During that time, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met Jeroboam on the road as he was going out of Jerusalem. Now Ahijah had wrapped himself in a new cloak, and the two of them were alone in the open field.
30 And Achia laid hold of his new garment that was upon him, and tore it [into] twelve pieces:
And Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing, tore it into twelve pieces,
31 and he said to Jeroboam, Take to yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give you ten tribes.
and said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and I will give you ten tribes.
32 Yet he shall have two tribes, for my servant David's sake, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.
But one tribe will remain for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.
33 Because he forsook me, and sacrificed to Astarte the abomination of the Sidonians, and to Chamos, and to the idols of Moab, and to their king the abomination of the children of Ammon, and he walked not in my ways, to do that which was right before me, as David his father [did].
For they have forsaken Me to worship Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites. They have not walked in My ways, nor done what is right in My eyes, nor kept My statutes and judgments, as Solomon’s father David did.
34 Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, (for I will certainly resist him all the days of his life, ) for David my servant's sake, whom I have chosen.
Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon’s hand, because I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David My servant, whom I chose because he kept My commandments and statutes.
35 But I will take the kingdom out of the hand of his son, and give you ten tribes.
But I will take ten tribes of the kingdom from the hand of his son and give them to you.
36 But to his son I will give the two [remaining] tribes, that my servant David may have an establishment continually before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for myself to put my name there.
I will give one tribe to his son, so that My servant David will always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put My Name.
37 And I will take you, and you shall reign as your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel.
But as for you, I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your heart desires, and you will be king over Israel.
38 And it shall come to pass, if you will keep all the commandments that I shall give you, and will walk in my ways, and do that which is right before me, to keep my ordinances and my commandments, as David my servant did, that I will be with you, and will build you a sure house, as I built to David.
If you listen to all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight in order to keep My statutes and commandments as My servant David did, then I will be with you. I will build you a lasting dynasty just as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.
Because of this, I will humble David’s descendants—but not forever.’”
40 And Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam: but he arose and fled into Egypt, to Susakim king of Egypt, and he was in Egypt until Solomon died.
Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, where he remained until the death of Solomon.
41 And the rest of the history of Solomon, and all that he did, and all his wisdom, behold are not these things written in the book of the life of Solomon?
As for the rest of the acts of Solomon—all that he did, as well as his wisdom—are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon?
42 And the days [during] which Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel [were] forty years.
Thus the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.
43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David his father, and Roboam his son reigned in his stead.
And Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. And his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.
