| NET Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1King Solomon fell in love with many foreign women (besides Pharaoh's daughter), including Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. | 1But King Solomon married many foreign women besides the daughter of Pharaoh: women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidonia, along with Hittite women, too, |
| 2They came from nations about which the LORD had warned the Israelites, "You must not establish friendly relations with them! If you do, they will surely shift your allegiance to their gods." But Solomon was irresistibly attracted to them. | 2all of them from nations that the LORD had ordered the Israelis, "You are not to associate with them and they are not to associate with you, because they will most certainly turn your affections away to follow their gods." Solomon became deeply attached to them by falling in love. |
| 3He had 700 royal wives and 300 concubines; his wives had a powerful influence over him. | 3He had 700 princess wives and 300 mistresses who turned his heart away from the LORD, |
| 4When Solomon became old, his wives shifted his allegiance to other gods; he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been. | 4because as Solomon grew older, his wives turned his affections away after other gods, and his heart was not fully as devoted to the LORD his God as his father David's heart had been. |
| 5Solomon worshiped the Sidonian goddess Astarte and the detestable Ammonite god Milcom. | 5Solomon pursued Astarte, the Sidonian goddess, and Milcom, that detestable Ammonite idol. |
| 6Solomon did evil in the LORD's sight; he did not remain loyal to the LORD, like his father David had. | 6Solomon practiced what the LORD considered to be evil by not fully following the LORD, as had his father David. |
| 7Furthermore, on the hill east of Jerusalem Solomon built a high place for the detestable Moabite god Chemosh and for the detestable Ammonite god Milcom. | 7Later, Solomon even constructed a high place on the mountain east of Jerusalem that was dedicated to Chemosh, that detestable Moabite idol, and to Molech, the detestable Ammonite idol. |
| 8He built high places for all his foreign wives so they could burn incense and make sacrifices to their gods. | 8Solomon did this for all of his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their own gods. |
| 9The LORD was angry with Solomon because he had shifted his allegiance away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him on two occasions | 9The LORD became angry at Solomon because his heart wandered away from the LORD God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice |
| 10and had warned him about this very thing, so that he would not follow other gods. But he did not obey the LORD's command. | 10and warned him about this so he would not pursue other gods. But he did not obey what the LORD had commanded, |
| 11So the LORD said to Solomon, "Because you insist on doing these things and have not kept the covenantal rules I gave you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. | 11so the LORD told Solomon, "Because you have done this and haven't kept my covenant and statutes that I commanded you, I'm going to tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant. |
| 12However, for your father David's sake I will not do this while you are alive. I will tear it away from your son's hand instead. | 12I'm not going to do this during your lifetime, for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of your son's control. |
| 13But I will not tear away the entire kingdom; I will leave your son one tribe for my servant David's sake and for the sake of my chosen city Jerusalem." | 13For the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, I won't tear away the entire kingdom. I'll leave one tribe for your son to govern." |
| 14The LORD brought against Solomon an enemy, Hadad the Edomite, a descendant of the Edomite king. | 14After this, the LORD allowed Hadad the Edomite to oppose Solomon. He was part of the royal line of Edom. |
| 15During David's campaign against Edom, Joab, the commander of the army, while on a mission to bury the dead, killed every male in Edom. | 15During David's military campaign against Edom, when his army commander Joab had gone out to bury the dead, he killed every male in Edom. |
| 16For six months Joab and the entire Israelite army stayed there until they had exterminated every male in Edom. | 16Joab had his entire army of Israel stay there for six months until he had eliminated every male in Edom. |
| 17Hadad, who was only a small boy at the time, escaped with some of his father's Edomite servants and headed for Egypt. | 17But Hadad escaped to Egypt in the company of some of his father's Edomite servants, while Hadad was still a little child. |
| 18They went from Midian to Paran; they took some men from Paran and went to Egypt. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, supplied him with a house and food and even assigned him some land. | 18They left Midian, arrived in Paran, and left from Paran with some men and traveled on to Egypt, where Pharaoh, king of Egypt, gave him a house to live in, assigned a food allotment to him, and gave him some land. |
| 19Pharaoh liked Hadad so well he gave him his sister-in-law (Queen Tahpenes' sister) as a wife. | 19Hadad won the affection of the Pharaoh, who gave permission for Hadad to marry the sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes. |
| 20Tahpenes' sister gave birth to his son, named Genubath. Tahpenes raised him in Pharaoh's palace; Genubath grew up in Pharaoh's palace among Pharaoh's sons. | 20Queen Tahpenes' sister bore him his son Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's palace while Genubath lived in Pharaoh's palace with the Pharaoh's own sons. |
| 21While in Egypt Hadad heard that David had passed away and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead. So Hadad asked Pharaoh, "Give me permission to leave so I can return to my homeland." | 21Later on, Hadad learned in Egypt that David had been buried with his ancestors and that Joab the army commander was dead. So Hadad asked Pharaoh, "Please send me out so I can go back to my own land." |
| 22Pharaoh said to him, "What do you lack here that makes you want to go to your homeland?" Hadad replied, "Nothing, but please give me permission to leave." | 22Pharaoh asked him, "But have you lacked anything from me that would make you want to go back to your own country?" "No," he answered, "but I still really must leave." |
| 23God also brought against Solomon another enemy, Rezon son of Eliada who had run away from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah. | 23God also raised up Eliada's son Rezon, who had escaped from his master King Hadadezer of Zobah. |
| 24He gathered some men and organized a raiding band. When David tried to kill them, they went to Damascus, where they settled down and gained control of the city. | 24He raised an army and commanded a gang of raiders after David had eliminated those who lived in Zobah. Rezon and his army moved to Damascus, remained there, and Rezon ruled from Damascus. |
| 25He was Israel's enemy throughout Solomon's reign and, like Hadad, caused trouble. He loathed Israel and ruled over Syria. | 25He opposed Israel during Solomon's entire reign, in addition to all of the evil things that Hadad did. Rezon also hated Israel while he reigned over Aram. |
| 26Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of Solomon's servants, rebelled against the king. He was an Ephraimite from Zeredah whose mother was a widow named Zeruah. | 26Solomon had a servant, Nebat's son Jeroboam, who was an Ephraimite from Zeredah. His widowed mother was named Zeruah. Jeroboam rebelled against Solomon, |
| 27This is what prompted him to rebel against the king: Solomon built a terrace and he closed up a gap in the wall of the city of his father David. | 27and this is why he rose in rebellion against the king: Solomon had built up the terrace ramparts in the city of his father David in order to repair a weakness. |
| 28Jeroboam was a talented man; when Solomon saw that the young man was an accomplished worker, he made him the leader of the work crew from the tribe of Joseph. | 28Jeroboam was a valiant soldier, and because Solomon observed that the young man was able to get things done, he set him in charge over all of the conscripted labor from the household of Joseph. |
| 29At that time, when Jeroboam had left Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road; the two of them were alone in the open country. Ahijah was wearing a brand new robe, | 29During that time, Jeroboam left Jerusalem and the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road. Ahijah had wrapped himself up in a new cloak, and both of them were alone on the open road. |
| 30and he grabbed the robe and tore it into twelve pieces. | 30Ahijah grabbed the new cloak that he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces! |
| 31Then he told Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces, for this is what the LORD God of Israel says: 'Look, I am about to tear the kingdom from Solomon's hand and I will give ten tribes to you. | 31Then he told Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces for yourself, because this is what the LORD God of Israel says: 'Pay attention! I'm going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon's control and give you ten tribes. |
| 32He will retain one tribe, for my servant David's sake and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. | 32I'll leave him one tribe for the sake of my servant David and one tribe for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I chose from all of the tribes of Israel. |
| 33I am taking the kingdom from him because they have abandoned me and worshiped the Sidonian goddess Astarte, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Milcom. They have not followed my instructions by doing what I approve and obeying my rules and regulations, like Solomon's father David did. | 33I'm doing this because they have abandoned me and worshipped that Sidonian goddess Astarte, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Milcom. They haven't lived my way by doing what I consider to be right and observing my statutes and my ordinances, like his father David did. |
| 34I will not take the whole kingdom from his hand. I will allow him to be ruler for the rest of his life for the sake of my chosen servant David who kept my commandments and rules. | 34Nevertheless, I won't take the entire kingdom away from him, but I'll let him reign for the rest of his life, because of my servant David, whom I chose, who obeyed my commandments and statutes, |
| 35I will take the kingdom from the hand of his son and give ten tribes to you. | 35but I will take the kingdom away from his son's control and give ten tribes to you. |
| 36I will leave his son one tribe so my servant David's dynasty may continue to serve me in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen as my home. | 36I'll give one tribe to his son, so my servant David will always have a light shining in my presence in Jerusalem, the city that I chose for myself and where I have placed my name. |
| 37I will select you; you will rule over all you desire to have and you will be king over Israel. | 37I'm going to take you and have you reign over whatever you desire. You will be king over Israel. |
| 38You must obey all I command you to do, follow my instructions, do what I approve, and keep my rules and commandments, like my servant David did. Then I will be with you and establish for you a lasting dynasty, as I did for David; I will give you Israel. | 38If you listen to everything that I command you to do, and if you live your life my way, and if you do what I consider to be right by observing my statutes and my commandments, just like my servant David did, then I will be with you, I will build an enduring dynasty for you, just like I did for David, and I'll give Israel to you. |
| 39I will humiliate David's descendants because of this, but not forever." | 39This is how I'm going to afflict David's descendants because of what they have done, though I won't do it continuously.'" |
| 40Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam escaped to Egypt and found refuge with King Shishak of Egypt. He stayed in Egypt until Solomon died. | 40That's why Solomon tried to execute Jeroboam, but Jeroboam got up and fled to Egypt, where he lived as a guest of King Shishak and remained until Solomon had died. |
| 41The rest of the events of Solomon's reign, including all his accomplishments and his wise decisions, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of Solomon. | 41Now the rest of Solomon's accomplishments, including everything else he did, as well as records of his wisdom, are recorded in the Book of the Acts of Solomon, are they not? |
| 42Solomon ruled over all Israel from Jerusalem for forty years. | 42Solomon reigned over all of Israel from Jerusalem for a total of 40 years. |
| 43Then Solomon passed away and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam replaced him as king. | 43Then Solomon died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam reigned in his place. |
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