1But king Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as Pharaoh's daughter: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites.
2They were from the nations about which the LORD had said to the children of Israel, "You shall not go in to them, and they shall not come in to you. They will surely turn your heart away after their gods." Solomon held on to these women in love.
3He had seven hundred wives, who were princesses, and three hundred concubines. And his wives turned his heart away.
4When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods. His heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
5For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
6Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not follow the LORD fully, as David his father had done.
7Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is in front of Jerusalem, and one for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.
8He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9The LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from the LORD God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,
10and had commanded him about this very thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the LORD commanded.
11So the LORD said to Solomon, "Because you have done this, and have not kept my covenant and my laws, which I commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant."
12"But I will not do it in your days, for the sake of David your father. I will tear it out of the hand of your son."
13"Yet I will not tear away all the kingdom. I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant, and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen."
14Then the LORD stirred up an enemy against Solomon: Hadad the Edomite. He was of the king's family in Edom.
15For when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the dead, after he had killed every male in Edom
17Hadad fled to go into Egypt, and with him some Edomites who had served his father. Hadad was still a little child.
18They set out from Midian and came to Paran. They took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt. He gave Hadad a house, provided him with food, and gave him land.
19Hadad found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so that Pharaoh gave him as his wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.
20The sister of Tahpenes bore him his son Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house. Genubath lived in Pharaoh's household among the sons of Pharaoh.
21When Hadad heard in Egypt that David had gone to rest with his fathers, and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, "Let me go, so that I may return to my own country."
22Then Pharaoh said to him, "But what have you lacked with me, that now you want to go to your own country?" He answered, "Nothing. But let me go all the same."
23God also stirred up another enemy against him: Rezon the son of Eliadah, who had fled from his master Hadadezer king of Zobah.
24He gathered men to himself and became captain over a band of raiders, when David killed the men of Zobah. They went to Damascus, and lived there, and ruled in Damascus.
25He was an enemy to Israel all the days of Solomon, as well as the harm that Hadad did. He hated Israel, and he reigned over Syria.
26Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, was Solomon's servant. His mother's name was Zeruah, a widow. He too lifted up his hand against the king.
27This was the reason he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the broken places in the wall of the city of David his father.
28Jeroboam was a strong and able man. When Solomon saw that the young man was hard-working, he put him in charge of all the labour of the house of Joseph.
29At that time Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, and the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road. Ahijah had put on a new coat, and the two of them were alone in the field.
30Ahijah took hold of the new coat that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces.
31He said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces for yourself. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Look, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and I will give ten tribes to you."
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.)"
33"'This is because they have left me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon. They have not walked in my ways, or done what is right in my eyes, or kept my laws and my judgements, as David his father did."
34"'Yet I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand. I will keep him as ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my laws."
35"'But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it to you, that is, ten tribes."
36"'And to his son I will give one tribe, so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for myself, to put my name there."
37"'I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel."
38"'And this is what will happen: if you listen to all that I command you, and walk in my ways, and do what is right in my sight, keeping my laws and my commandments, as David my servant did, then I will be with you. I will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you."
39"'For this I will bring trouble on the seed of David, but not for ever.'"
40So Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam got up and fled into Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and he stayed in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
41The 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?