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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>1 Kings 11 NLT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/1_kings/11.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/1_kings/11-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NLT</a> > 1 Kings 11</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../1_kings/10.htm" title="1 Kings 10">◄</a> 1 Kings 11 <a href="../1_kings/12.htm" title="1 Kings 12">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Living Translation</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/nlt/esv/1_kings/11.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="hdg">Solomon’s Many Wives</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>The LORD had clearly instructed the people of Israel, “You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.” Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the LORD.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the LORD his God, as his father, David, had been. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">a</span></a> the detestable god of the Ammonites. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>In this way, Solomon did what was evil in the LORD’s sight; he refused to follow the LORD completely, as his father, David, had done.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>On the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">b</span></a> he even built a pagan shrine for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, and another for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>Solomon built such shrines for all his foreign wives to use for burning incense and sacrificing to their gods.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>The LORD was very angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>He had warned Solomon specifically about worshiping other gods, but Solomon did not listen to the LORD’s command. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>So now the LORD said to him, “Since you have not kept my covenant and have disobeyed my decrees, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>But for the sake of your father, David, I will not do this while you are still alive. I will take the kingdom away from your son. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>And even so, I will not take away the entire kingdom; I will let him be king of one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, my chosen city.”</p><p class="hdg">Solomon’s Adversaries</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>Then the LORD raised up Hadad the Edomite, a member of Edom’s royal family, to be Solomon’s adversary. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>Years before, David had defeated Edom. Joab, his army commander, had stayed to bury some of the Israelite soldiers who had died in battle. While there, they killed every male in Edom. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>Joab and the army of Israel had stayed there for six months, killing them.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>But Hadad and a few of his father’s royal officials escaped and headed for Egypt. (Hadad was just a boy at the time.) <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>They set out from Midian and went to Paran, where others joined them. Then they traveled to Egypt and went to Pharaoh, who gave them a home, food, and some land. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>Pharaoh grew very fond of Hadad, and he gave him his wife’s sister in marriage—the sister of Queen Tahpenes. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>She bore him a son named Genubath. Tahpenes raised him<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">c</span></a> in Pharaoh’s palace among Pharaoh’s own sons.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>When the news reached Hadad in Egypt that David and his commander Joab were both dead, he said to Pharaoh, “Let me return to my own country.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>“Why?” Pharaoh asked him. “What do you lack here that makes you want to go home?”</p><p class="reg">“Nothing,” he replied. “But even so, please let me return home.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>God also raised up Rezon son of Eliada as Solomon’s adversary. Rezon had fled from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>and had become the leader of a gang of rebels. After David conquered Hadadezer, Rezon and his men fled to Damascus, where he became king. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>Rezon was Israel’s bitter adversary for the rest of Solomon’s reign, and he made trouble, just as Hadad did. Rezon hated Israel intensely and continued to reign in Aram.</p><p class="hdg">Jeroboam Rebels against Solomon</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>Another rebel leader was Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of Solomon’s own officials. He came from the town of Zeredah in Ephraim, and his mother was Zeruah, a widow.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>This is the story behind his rebellion. Solomon was rebuilding the supporting terraces<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">d</span></a> and repairing the walls of the city of his father, David. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>Jeroboam was a very capable young man, and when Solomon saw how industrious he was, he put him in charge of the labor force from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the descendants of Joseph.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>One day as Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him along the way. Ahijah was wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone in a field, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten of these pieces, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and I will give ten of the tribes to you! <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>But I will leave him one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span>For Solomon has<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">e</span></a> abandoned me and worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians; Chemosh, the god of Moab; and Molech, the god of the Ammonites. He has not followed my ways and done what is pleasing in my sight. He has not obeyed my decrees and regulations as David his father did.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-34.htm"><b>34</b></a></span>“‘But I will not take the entire kingdom from Solomon at this time. For the sake of my servant David, the one whom I chose and who obeyed my commands and decrees, I will keep Solomon as leader for the rest of his life. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-35.htm"><b>35</b></a></span>But I will take the kingdom away from his son and give ten of the tribes to you. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-36.htm"><b>36</b></a></span>His son will have one tribe so that the descendants of David my servant will continue to reign, shining like a lamp in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen to be the place for my name. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-37.htm"><b>37</b></a></span>And I will place you on the throne of Israel, and you will rule over all that your heart desires. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-38.htm"><b>38</b></a></span>If you listen to what I tell you and follow my ways and do whatever I consider to be right, and if you obey my decrees and commands, as my servant David did, then I will always be with you. I will establish an enduring dynasty for you as I did for David, and I will give Israel to you. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-39.htm"><b>39</b></a></span>Because of Solomon’s sin I will punish the descendants of David—though not forever.’”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-40.htm"><b>40</b></a></span>Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but he fled to King Shishak of Egypt and stayed there until Solomon died.</p><p class="hdg">Summary of Solomon’s Reign</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-41.htm"><b>41</b></a></span>The rest of the events in Solomon’s reign, including all his deeds and his wisdom, are recorded in <span class="it">The Book of the Acts of Solomon.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-42.htm"><b>42</b></a></span>Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_kings/11-43.htm"><b>43</b></a></span>When he died, he was buried in the City of David, named for his father. Then his son Rehoboam became the next king.</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn">a</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">11:5 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">Milcom,</span><span class="ft"> a variant spelling of Molech; also in 11:33.</span><br><span class="fn">b</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">11:7 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">On the mountain east of Jerusalem.</span><br><span class="fn">c</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">11:20 </span><span class="ft">As in Greek version; Hebrew reads </span><span class="it">weaned him.</span><br><span class="fn">d</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">11:27 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">the millo.</span><span class="ft"> The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.</span><br><span class="fn">e</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">11:33 </span><span class="ft">As in Greek, Syriac, and Latin Vulgate; Hebrew reads </span><span class="it">For they have.</span><br></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><em>Holy Bible</em>, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. 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