1 Kings 11 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

Solomon’s Heart Turns from the LORD

Solomon Turns Away from the LORD

1Ki 11:1But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites—

1Ki 11:2

1Ki 11:2from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love.

1Ki 11:3

1Ki 11:3And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

1Ki 11:4

1Ki 11:4For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David.

1Ki 11:5

1Ki 11:5For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

1Ki 11:6

1Ki 11:6Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not fully follow the LORD, as did his father David.

1Ki 11:7

1Ki 11:7Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon.

1Ki 11:8

1Ki 11:8And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

1Ki 11:9

1Ki 11:9So the LORD became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the LORD God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,

1Ki 11:10

1Ki 11:10and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the LORD had commanded.

1Ki 11:11

1Ki 11:11Therefore 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 surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.

1Ki 11:12

1Ki 11:12“Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son.

1Ki 11:13

1Ki 11:13“However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; 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.”

Adversaries of Solomon

1Ki 11:14

1Ki 11:14Now the LORD raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was a descendant of the king in Edom.

1Ki 11:15

1Ki 11:15For it happened, when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, after he had killed every male in Edom

1Ki 11:16

1Ki 11:16(because for six months Joab remained there with all Israel, until he had cut down every male in Edom),

1Ki 11:17

1Ki 11:17that Hadad fled to go to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him. Hadad was still a little child.

1Ki 11:18

1Ki 11:18Then they arose from Midian and came to Paran; and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, apportioned food for him, and gave him land.

1Ki 11:19

1Ki 11:19And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him as wife the sister of his own wife, that is, the sister of Queen Tahpenes.

1Ki 11:20

1Ki 11:20Then the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house. And Genubath was in Pharaoh’s household among the sons of Pharaoh.

1Ki 11:21

1Ki 11:21So when Hadad heard in Egypt that David rested 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.”

1Ki 11:22

1Ki 11:22Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me, that suddenly you seek to go to your own country?” So he answered, “Nothing, but do let me go anyway.”

1Ki 11:23

1Ki 11:23And God raised up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliadah, who had fled from his lord, Hadadezer king of Zobah.

1Ki 11:24

1Ki 11:24So he gathered men to him and became captain over a band of raiders, when David killed those of Zobah. And they went to Damascus and dwelt there, and reigned in Damascus.

1Ki 11:25

1Ki 11:25He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon (besides the trouble that Hadad caused); and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.

Jeroboam’s Rebellion

1Ki 11:26

1Ki 11:26Then Solomon’s servant, Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zereda, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, also rebelled against the king.

1Ki 11:27

1Ki 11:27And this is what caused him to rebel against the king: Solomon had built the Millo and repaired the damages to the City of David his father.

1Ki 11:28

1Ki 11:28The man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon, seeing that the young man was industrious, made him the officer over all the labor force of the house of Joseph.

1Ki 11:29

1Ki 11:29Now it happened at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the way; and he had clothed himself with a new garment, and the two were alone in the field.

1Ki 11:30

1Ki 11:30Then Ahijah took hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces.

1Ki 11:31

1Ki 11:31And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you

1Ki 11:32

1Ki 11:32‘(but he shall have one tribe for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel),

1Ki 11:33

1Ki 11:33‘because they have[fn] forsaken Me, and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the people of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My eyes and keep My statutes and My judgments, as did his father David.

1Ki 11:34

1Ki 11:34‘However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, because I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David, whom I chose because he kept My commandments and My statutes.

1Ki 11:35

1Ki 11:35‘But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and give it to you—ten tribes.

1Ki 11:36

1Ki 11:36‘And to his son I will give one tribe, that My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for Myself, to put My name there.

1Ki 11:37

1Ki 11:37‘So I will take you, and you shall reign over all your heart desires, and you shall be king over Israel.

1Ki 11:38

1Ki 11:38‘Then it shall be, if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you.

1Ki 11:39

1Ki 11:39‘And I will afflict the descendants of David because of this, but not forever.’ ”

1Ki 11:40

1Ki 11:40Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

Death of Solomon

(2 Chr. 9:29–31 )

1Ki 11:41

1Ki 11:41Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?

1Ki 11:42

1Ki 11:42And the period that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.

1Ki 11:43

1Ki 11:43Then Solomon rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

See the NKJV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NKJV Footnotes

(11:33)

Following Masoretic Text and Targum; Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read he has.

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1 Kings Chapter 11 — Additional Translations:

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1 Kings 11 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

NKJV Footnotes

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