Solomon Turns from the Lord

1 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.

Glorious Things of You Are Spoken

A Psalm of ^lthe Sons of Korah. A Song.

Put On the New Self

1 ^bIf then you have been raised with Christ, seek ^cthe things that are above, where Christ is, ^dseated at the right hand of God. 2 ^eSet your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For ^fyou have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ ^gwho is your¹ life ^happears, then you also will appear with him ⁱin glory.

5 ^jPut to death therefore ^kwhat is earthly in you:^{2 l}sexual immorality, impurity, ^mpassion, evil desire, and covetousness, ⁿwhich is idolatry. 6 ^oOn account of these the wrath of God is coming.³ 7 ^pIn these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now ^qyou must put them all away: ^ranger, wrath, malice, ^sslander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 ^tDo not lie to one another, seeing that ^uyou have put off ^vthe old self⁴ with its practices 10 and ^whave put on ^xthe new self, ^ywhich is being renewed in knowledge ^zafter the image of ^aits creator. 11 ^bHere there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave,⁵ free; but Christ is ^call, and in all.

12 ^dPut on then, as ^eGod’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, ^fcompassionate hearts, ^gkindness, ^hhumility, meekness, and patience, 13 ^hbearing with one another and, ⁱif one has a complaint against another, ^gforgiving each other; ^gas the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on ^jlove, which ^kbinds everything together in ^lperfect harmony. 15 And let ^mthe peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called ⁿin one body. And ^obe thankful. 16 Let ^pthe word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, ^qsinging psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, ^rwith thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And ^swhatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, ^tgiving thanks to God the Father through him.

Rules for Christian Households

18 ^uWives, submit to your husbands, as ^vis fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and ^wdo not be harsh with them. 20 Children, obey your parents ^xin everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. 22 Bondservants, obey ^xin everything those who are your earthly masters,⁶ not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 ^yWhatever you do, work heartily, ^zas for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord ^ayou will receive the inheritance as your reward. ^bYou are serving the Lord Christ. 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

1 Masters, treat your bondservants⁷ justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

Further Instructions

2 ^cContinue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it ^dwith thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may ^eopen to us a door for the word, ^fto declare the mystery of Christ, ^gon account of which I am in prison— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

5 ^hWalk in wisdom toward ⁱoutsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always ^jbe gracious, ^kseasoned with salt, ^lso that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Final Greetings

7 Tychicus will tell you ^mall about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant⁸ in the Lord. 8 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts, 9 and with him ⁿOnesimus, our faithful and ^obeloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here.

10 ^pAristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark ^qthe cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—^rif he comes to you, welcome him), 11 and Jesus who is called ^sJustus. ^tThese are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and ^uthey have been a comfort to me. 12 ^vEpaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always ^wstruggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand ^xmature and fully assured in all the will of God. 13 For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. 14 ^yLuke the beloved physician greets you, as does ^zDemas. 15 Give my greetings to the brothers⁹ at Laodicea, and to Nympha and ^athe church in her house. 16 And when ^bthis letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. 17 And say to ^cArchippus, “See that you fulfill ^dthe ministry that you have received in the Lord.”

18 I, Paul, ^ewrite this greeting with my own hand. ^fRemember ^gmy chains. ^hGrace be with you.