1 Kings 11

1 But king Solomon loved many strange women, beside the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, 'Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites.

King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh's daughter, there were women from the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites.

2 From the nations concerning which the Lord had said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in among them, nor shall they come in among you; surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: unto these Solomon did cleave to love them.

They were from the nations that the Lord had warned the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for they will undoubtedly convince you to worship their gods.” Yet Solomon because of his love for women held on to them.

3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.

He had seven hundred wives of noble birth and three hundred concubines. His wives did convince him to turn away from the Lord.

4 And it came to pass, at the time that Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not undivided with the Lord his God, like the heart of David his father.

As Solomon grew old, his wives led him to follow other gods, and he did not commit himself wholeheartedly to the Lord as his father David had done.

5 And Solomon went after 'Ashtoreth the divinity of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the 'Ammonites.

Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, vile god of the Ammonites.

6 And Solomon did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, like David his father.

This was how Solomon did evil in the Lord's sight, and was not completely dedicated to the Lord as his father David was.

7 Then did Solomon build a high-place for Kemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the mount that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of 'Ammon.

It was then that Solomon built a high place of worship for Chemosh, the vile god of the people of Moab, and for Molech, the vile god of the Ammonites, on a hill east of Jerusalem.

8 And so did he for all his strange wives, who burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.

He built places of worship for all his foreign wives where they burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

9 And the Lord was angry with Solomon; because his heart was turned away from the Lord the God of Israel, who had appeared unto him twice;

The Lord became angry with Solomon because he had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.

10 And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep that which the Lord had commanded.

The Lord had warned Solomon about this—that he should not worship other gods. But Solomon did not listen to the Lord's warning.

11 And the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is in thy mind, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I commanded concerning thee: I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.

So the Lord told him, “Since this is what you have done, and since you have not kept my agreement and my laws that I commanded, I will definitely take the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.

12 Nevertheless in thy days will I not do it, for the sake of David thy father; [but] out of the hand of thy son will I rend it.

However, for the sake of your father David, I will not do this in your lifetime—I will take it away from your son.

13 Still all the kingdom will I not rend away: one tribe will I give to thy son on account of David my servant, and on account of Jerusalem which I have chosen.

Even then I will not take away the whole kingdom. I will leave your son with one tribe for the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of my chosen city Jerusalem.”

14 And the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king's seed in Edom.

Then the Lord encouraged Hadad the Edomite of Edom's royal family to oppose Solomon.

15 It came to pass, namely, when David was in Edom, when Joab the captain of the army was gone up to bury the slain, after he had smitten every male in Edom;

Previously, when David was in Edom, Joab the commander of the Israelite army had gone to bury some of his soldiers who had been killed, and had slaughtered every male in Edom.

16 (For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, until he had cut off every male in Edom: )

Joab and the whole Israelite army had spent six months there destroying them all.

17 That Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with him, to go into Egypt; but Hadad was then yet a young lad.

But Hadad and some Edomites who had been his father's officials had run away to Egypt—Hadad was just a boy at the time.

18 And they arose from Midian, and came to Paran; and they took [some] men with them from Paran, and came to Egypt, unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt; who gave him a house, and decreed him a support, and gave him land.

They left Midian and went to Paran. Then, along with some people from Paran, they went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt. He provided Hadad with a house and food, and also assigned him land as a gift.

19 And Hadad found great favor in the eyes of Pharaoh, so that he gave him for wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Thachpeness the queen.

Pharaoh became very friendly with Hadad, and he gave him the sister of his own wife to marry, Queen Tahpenes' sister.

20 And the sister of Thachpeness bore him Genubath his son, whom Thachpeness brought up in Pharaoh's house; and Genubath remained in Pharaoh's house among the sons of Pharaoh.

She gave birth to his son called Genubath. Tahpenes brought him up in Pharaoh's palace with Pharaoh's own children.

21 And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the army was dead: Hadad said to Pharaoh, Dismiss me, that I may go to my own country.

However, when news reached Hadad in Egypt that both David and Joab, the commander of the army, had died, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me leave and return to my own country.”

22 Then said Pharaoh unto him, But what dost thou lack with me, that, behold, thou seekest to go to thy own country? And he answered, Nothing: nevertheless thou must let me go away.

Pharaoh asked him, “Is there anything that you have lacked here with me that now you want to go back to your own country?” “No, there's nothing,” Hadad replied, “but please just let me go home.”

23 And God stirred him up [another] adversary, Rezon the son of Elyada', who had fled from Hadad'ezer the king of Zobah his lord;

God also encouraged Rezon, son of Eliada, to oppose Solomon. He had run away from his master Hadadezer, king of Zobah. After David had destroyed Zobah's army,

24 And he gathered around him some men, and became captain over a band, when David slew those [of Zobah]; and they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus.

Rezon gathered around him a rebel band, and became their leader. They went and settled in Damascus, where they took over.

25 And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadad did: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.

Rezon was Israel's enemy throughout Solomon's lifetime which added to the trouble Hadad caused. Rezon really hated Israel, and was the ruler of Aram.

26 Also Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zeredah, the name of whose mother was Zeru'ah, a widow woman, was a servant of Solomon, and he lifted up his hand against the king.

In addition, Jeroboam, son of Nebat, rebelled against the king. One of Solomon's officials, he was an Ephraimite from Zeredah. His mother was a widow called Zeruah.

27 And this was the occasion that he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built up the Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of David his father.

This is why he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built the terraces and had closed the gap in the wall of the city of his father David.

28 And the man Jerobo'am was a mighty man of valor: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was [also] an industrious worker, he appointed him over all the charge of the house of Joseph.

Jeroboam was a man of ability, and when Solomon realized how successful he was in what he did, he placed him command of all the forced labor of the tribes of Joseph.

29 And it came to pass at that time when Jerobo'am went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Achiyah the Shilonite found him on the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and these two were alone by themselves in the field;

Around that time the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met Jeroboam on the road as he was leaving Jerusalem.

30 And Achiyah caught hold of the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces;

Ahijah had wrapped himself in a new cloak, and the two of them were by themselves in the countryside. Ahijah took the new cloak he was wearing and ripped it up into twelve pieces.

31 And he said to Jerobo'am, Take thee ten pieces; for thus hath said the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and I will give to thee the ten tribes;

He said, “Jeroboam, take ten pieces. This is what the Lord God of Israel says. ‘Jeroboam, I am the Lord, the God of Israel, and I am going to take Solomon's kingdom from him and give you ten of the tribes.

32 But the one tribe shall remain for him, on account of my servant David, and on account of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel;

One tribe will be left for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I chose from among all the tribes of Israel.

33 For the cause that they have forsaken me, and have bowed down to 'Ashtoreth the divinity of the Zidonians, to Kemosh the god of Moab, and to Milcom the god of the children of 'Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do what is right in my eyes, and my statutes and my ordinances, like David his father.

This is because they have abandoned me and bowed down in worship of Ashtoreth, goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh, god of the Moabites, and Molech, god of the Ammonites. They have not followed my ways; they have not done what is right in my sight; they have not kept my commandments and laws as David, Solomon's father, did.

34 Nevertheless will I not take the whole kingdom out of his hand; but I will let him remain prince all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes;

Even so, I'm not going to take the whole kingdom from Solomon, because I made him ruler for his lifetime for the sake of my servant David. I chose him because he kept my commandments and laws.

35 But I will take the kingdom out of the hand of his son, and I will give it unto thee, even the ten tribes.

But I will take from his son's kingdom ten tribes and give them to you.

36 And unto his son will I give one tribe; so that there may remain a government for David my servant at all times before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for me, to put my name there.

I will give his son one tribe, so that my servant David will always have a descendant like a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to be honored.

37 But thee will I take, and thou shalt reign over all that thy soul may long for; and thou shalt be king over Israel.

I will take you, and you shall reign over everything that you want. You will be king over Israel.

38 And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I shall command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did: that I will be with thee, and build thee a permanent house, as I have built for David, and I will give Israel unto thee.

If you accept everything that I command you, if you follow my ways, if you do what is right in my sight, keeping my laws and commandments as my servant David did, then I will be with you. I will set up for you a dynasty that lasts, just as I did for David, and I will give Israel to you.

39 And I will afflict the seed of David for this; but not for all times.

I will punish David's descendants because of this, but not forever.”

40 Solomon thereupon sought to put Jerobo'am to death; but Jerobo'am arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak the king of Egypt, and remained in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

So Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam ran away to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt. He remained there until Solomon's death.

41 And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did and his wisdom, behold, they are written in the book of the history of Solomon.

The record of the rest of the acts of Solomon, including everything he did, and his wisdom, are written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon.

42 And the days that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel were forty years.

Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all of Israel for a total of forty years.

43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father; and Rehobo'am his son became king in his stead.

Solomon died and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam succeeded him as king.