The Lord Appears to Solomon

9 ^jAs soon as Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord ^kand the king’s house and ^lall that Solomon desired to build, 2 ^mthe Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 And the Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, ⁿby putting my name there forever. ^oMy eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 4 And as for you, if you will ^pwalk before me, ^qas David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, 5 ^rthen I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ 6 ^sBut if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, 7 ^tthen I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, ^uand the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, ^vand Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 8 And this house will become a heap of ruins.¹ Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ^w‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ 9 Then they will say, ‘Because ^xthey abandoned the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the Lord has brought all this disaster on them.’”

Solomon’s Other Acts

10 ^yAt the end of ^ztwenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king’s house, 11 and Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold, as much as he desired, King Solomon gave to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 12 But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, they did not please him. 13 Therefore he said, “What kind of cities are these that you have given me, my brother?” So they are called the land of ^aCabul to this day. 14 Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents² of gold.

15 And this is the account of ^bthe forced labor that King Solomon drafted to build the house of the Lord and his own house and ^cthe Millo and the wall of Jerusalem and ^dHazor and ^eMegiddo and Gezer 16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and had killed ^fthe Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to ^ghis daughter, Solomon’s wife; 17 so Solomon rebuilt Gezer) and ^hLower Beth-horon 18 and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah,³ 19 and all the store cities that Solomon had, and ⁱthe cities for his chariots, and the cities for ^jhis horsemen, and whatever Solomon ^kdesired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 20 All the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the people of Israel— 21 ^ltheir descendants who were left after them in the land, ^mwhom the people of Israel were unable to devote to destruction⁴—ⁿthese Solomon drafted to be ^oslaves, and so they are to this day. 22 But ^pof the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves. They were the soldiers, they were his officials, his commanders, his captains, his chariot commanders and his horsemen.

23 These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work: ^q550 ^rwho had charge of the people who carried on the work.

24 But ^gPharaoh’s daughter went up from the city of David to ^sher own house that Solomon had built for her. ^tThen he built ^uthe Millo.

25 Three times a year Solomon used to offer up burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar that he built to the Lord, making offerings with it⁵ before the Lord. So he finished the house.

26 King Solomon built a fleet of ships at ^vEzion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. 27 And Hiram sent ^wwith the fleet his servants, seamen who were familiar with the sea, together with the servants of Solomon. 28 And they went to ^xOphir and brought from there gold, 420 talents, and they brought it to King Solomon.

The Queen of Sheba

10 ^yNow when ^zthe queen of ^aSheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came ^bto test him with hard questions. 2 She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels ^cbearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. 3 And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her. 4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 5 the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her.

6 And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, 7 but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard. 8 ^eHappy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! 9 ^fBlessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! ^gBecause the Lord loved Israel forever, he has made you king, ^hthat you may execute justice and righteousness.” 10 ⁱThen she gave the king 120 talents¹ of gold, and a very great quantity of spices and precious stones. Never again came such an abundance of spices as these that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

11 Moreover, ^jthe fleet of Hiram, which brought ^kgold from Ophir, brought from Ophir a very great amount of almug wood and precious stones. 12 And the king made of the almug wood supports for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, also lyres and harps for the singers. No such almug wood has come or been seen to this day.

13 And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked besides what was given her by the bounty of King Solomon. So she turned and went back to her own land with her servants.

Solomon’s Great Wealth

14 ^lNow the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, 15 besides that which came from the explorers and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of the west and from the governors of the land. 16 King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold; 600 shekels² of gold went into each shield. 17 And he made 300 ^mshields of beaten gold; three minas³ of gold went into each shield. And the king put them in ⁿthe House of the Forest of Lebanon. 18 The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with the finest gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and the throne had a round top,⁴ and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests, 20 while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. The like of it was never made in any kingdom. 21 All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of ⁿthe House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. 22 For the king had ^oa fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the fleet of ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.⁵

23 ^pThus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. 24 And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. 25 Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, myrrh,⁶ spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year.

26 ^qAnd Solomon gathered together ^rchariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the ^schariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 27 And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as ^tthe sycamore of the Shephelah. 28 And Solomon’s ^uimport of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s traders received them from Kue at a price. 29 A chariot could be imported from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver and a horse for 150, and so through the king’s traders they were exported to all the kings of ^vthe Hittites and the kings of Syria.

Solomon Turns from the Lord

11 Now ^wKing Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, ^x“You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. 4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and ^yhis heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, ^zas was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after ^aAshtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after ^bMilcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for ^cChemosh the abomination of Moab, and for ^dMolech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. 8 And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.

The Lord Raises Adversaries

9 And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because ^ehis heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, ^fwho had appeared to him twice 10 and ^ghad commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded. 11 Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, ^hI will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. 12 Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 However, ⁱI will not tear away all the kingdom, but ^jI will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem ^kthat I have chosen.”

14 And the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He was of the royal house in Edom. 15 For ^lwhen David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the slain, he struck down every male in Edom 16 (for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom). 17 But Hadad fled to Egypt, together with certain Edomites of his father’s servants, Hadad still being a little child. 18 They set out from Midian and came to ^mParan and took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and assigned him an allowance of food and gave him land. 19 And 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 bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house. And Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh. 21 But when Hadad heard in Egypt ⁿthat David slept with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.” 22 But Pharaoh said to him, “What have you lacked with me that you are now seeking to go to your own country?” And he said to him, “Only let me depart.”

23 God also raised up as an adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master ^oHadadezer king of Zobah. 24 And he gathered men about him and became leader of a marauding band, ^pafter the killing by David. And they went to Damascus and lived there and made him king in Damascus. 25 He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon, doing harm as Hadad did. And he loathed Israel and reigned over Syria.

26 ^qJeroboam the son of Nebat, ^ran Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, also ^slifted up his hand against the king. 27 And this was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king. ^tSolomon built the Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of David his father. 28 The man Jeroboam was very able, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious he gave him charge over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. 29 And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet ^uAhijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had dressed himself in a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the open country. 30 Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, ^vand tore it into twelve pieces. 31 And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, ^wI am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes 32 (but ^xhe shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, ^ythe city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), 33 because they have¹ forsaken me ^zand worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and they have not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my rules, as David his father 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 David my servant whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes. 35 ^aBut I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and will give it to you, ten tribes. 36 Yet to his son ^xI will give one tribe, that David my servant may always have ^ba lamp before me in Jerusalem, ^ythe city where I have chosen to put my name. 37 And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. 38 And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, ^cI will be with you and ^dwill build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39 And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever.’” 40 Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt, to ^eShishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

41 ^fNow the 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 And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. 43 And Solomon ^gslept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And ^hRehoboam his son reigned in his place.

Rehoboam’s Folly

12 ⁱRehoboam went to ^jShechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. 2 And as soon as ^kJeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for ^lhe was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from¹ Egypt. 3 And they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam, 4 ^m“Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.” 5 He said to them, ⁿ“Go away for three days, then come again to me.” So the people went away.

6 Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” 7 And they said to him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.” 8 But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. 9 And he said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” 10 And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to this people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us,’ thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s thighs. 11 And now, whereas ^mmy father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”

12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said, ^o“Come to me again the third day.” 13 And the king answered the people harshly, and forsaking the counsel that the old men had given him, 14 he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, ^m“My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” 15 So the king did not listen to the people, for ^pit was a turn of affairs brought about by the Lord that he might fulfill his word, which ^qthe Lord spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

The Kingdom Divided

16 And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. ^rTo your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So Israel went to their tents. 17 But Rehoboam reigned over ^sthe people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah. 18 Then King Rehoboam sent ^tAdoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. 19 ^uSo Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. 20 And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. There was none that followed the house of David but ^vthe tribe of Judah only.

21 ^wWhen Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22 But the word of God came to ^xShemaiah the man of God: 23 “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the ^yrest of the people, 24 ‘Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives the people of Israel. Every man return to his home, ^zfor this thing is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the Lord and went home again, according to the word of the Lord.