1 Kings Chapter 11
Other Translations
lxxbrent (lxxbrent) - Septuagint (Brenton 1851) eBible USFM
1
And king Solomon was a lover of women. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines. And he took strange women, as well as the daughter of Pharao, Moabitish, Ammanitish women, Syrians and Idumeans, Chettites, and Amorites;
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of the nations concerning whom the Lord forbade the children of Israel, [saying], Ye shall not go in to them, and they shall not come in to you, lest they turn away your hearts after their idols: Solomon clave to these in love.
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And it came to pass in the time of the old age of Solomon, that his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as [was] the heart of David his father. And the strange women turned away his heart after their gods.
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Then Solomon built a high place to Chamos the idol of Moab, and to their king the idol of the children of Ammon,
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and to Astarte the abomination of the Sidonians.
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And thus he acted towards all his strange wives, who burnt incense and sacrificed to their idols.
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And Solomon did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he went not after the Lord, as David his father.
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And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because he turned away his heart from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared twice to him,
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and charged him concerning this matter, by no means to go after other gods, but to take heed to do what the Lord God commanded him; neither was his heart perfect with the Lord, according to the heart of David his father.
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And the Lord said to Solomon, Because it has been thus with thee, and thou hast not kept my commandments and my ordinances which I commanded thee, I will surely rend thy kingdom out of thy hand, and give it to thy servant.
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Only in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's sake: [but] I will take it out of the hand of thy son.
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Only I will not take away the whole kingdom: I will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen.
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And the Lord raised up an enemy to Solomon, Ader the Idumæan, and Esrom son of Eliadaë who [dwelt] in Raama, [and] Adadezer king of Suba his master; (and men gathered to him, and he was head of the conspiracy, and he seized on Damasec,) and they were adversaries to Israel all the days of Solomon: and Ader the Idumæan [was] of the seed royal in Idumæa.
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And it happened, that while David was utterly destroying Edom, while Joab captain of the host was going to bury the dead, when they slew every male in Idumæa;
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(for Joab and all Israel abode there six months in Idumæa, until he utterly destroyed every male in Idumæa;)
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that Ader ran away, he and all the Idumæans of the servants of his father with him; and they went into Egypt; and Ader [was then] a little child.
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And there rise up men out of the city of Madiam, and they come to Pharan, and take men with them, and come to Pharao king of Egypt: and Ader went in to Pharao, and he gave him a house, and appointed him provision.
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And Ader found great favour in the sight of Pharao, and he gave him his wife's sister in marriage, the elder sister of Thekemina.
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And the sister of Thekemina bore to him, [even] to Ader, Ganebath her son; and Thekemina brought him up in the midst of the sons of Pharao, and Ganebath was in the midst of the sons of Pharao.
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And Ader heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead; and Ader said to Pharao, Let me go, and I will return to my country.
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And Pharao said to Ader, What lackest thou with me? that lo! thou seekest to depart to thy country? and Ader said to him, By all means let me go. So Ader returned to his country;
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this [is] the mischief which Ader did, and he was a bitter enemy of Israel, and he reigned in the land of Edom.
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And Jeroboam the son of Nabat, the Ephrathite of Sarira, the son of a widow, [was] servant of Solomon.
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And this [was] the occasion of his lifting up [his] hands against king Solomon: now king Solomon built the citadel, he completed the fortification of the city of David his father.
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And the man Jeroboam was very strong; and Solomon saw the young man that he was active, and he set him over the levies of the house of Joseph.
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And it came to pass at that time, that Jeroboam went forth from Jerusalem, and Achia the Selonite the prophet found him in the way, and caused him to turn aside out of the way: and Achia was clad with a new garment, and they two [were] alone in the field.
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And Achia laid hold of his new garment that was upon him, and tore it [into] twelve pieces:
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and he said to Jeroboam, Take to thyself ten pieces, for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give thee ten tribes.
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Yet he shall have two tribes, for my servant David's sake, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.
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Because he forsook me, and sacrificed to Astarte the abomination of the Sidonians, and to Chamos, and to the idols of Moab, and to their king the abomination of the children of Ammon, and he walked not in my ways, to do that which was right before me, as David his father [did].
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Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, (for I will certainly resist him all the days of his life,) for David my servant's sake, whom I have chosen.
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But I will take the kingdom out of the hand of his son, and give thee ten tribes.
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But to his son I will give the two [remaining] tribes, that my servant David may have an establishment continually before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for myself to put my name there.
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And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign as thy soul desires, and thou shalt be king over Israel.
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And it shall come to pass, if thou wilt keep all the commandments that I shall give thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that which is right before me, to keep my ordinances and my commandments, as David my servant did, that I will be with thee, and will build thee a sure house, as I built to David.
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And Solomon sought to slay Jeroboam: but he arose and fled into Egypt, to Susakim king of Egypt, and he was in Egypt until Solomon died.
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And the rest of the history of Solomon, and all that he did, and all his wisdom, behold are not these things written in the book of the life of Solomon?
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And the days [during] which Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel [were] forty years.
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And Solomon slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David his father. And it came to pass when Jeroboam son of Nabat heard [of it], even while he was yet in Egypt as he fled from the face of Solomon and dwelt in Egypt, he straightway comes into his own city, into the land of Sarira in the mount of Ephraim. And king Solomon slept with his fathers, and Roboam his son reigned in his stead.
web (web) - WorldEnglish.Bible — CC0 modern update of ASV
1
Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites,
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of the nations concerning which the LORD said to the children of Israel, “You shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon joined to these in love.
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He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines. His wives turned his heart away.
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When Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father was.
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For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
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Solomon did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, and didn’t go fully after the LORD, as David his father did.
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Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the mountain that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon.
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So he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
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The LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,
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and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he didn’t keep that which the LORD commanded.
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Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, “Because this is done by you, and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.
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Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days, for David your father’s sake; but I will tear it out of your son’s hand.
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However, I will not tear away all the kingdom; but I will give one tribe to your son, for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen.”
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The LORD raised up an adversary to Solomon: Hadad the Edomite. He was one of the king’s offspring in Edom.
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For when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the army had gone up to bury the slain, and had struck every male in Edom
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(for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom),
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Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him, to go into Egypt, when Hadad was still a little child.
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They arose out of Midian and came to Paran; and they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, and appointed him food, and gave him land.
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Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him as wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.
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The sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh.
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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, “Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.”
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Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me, that behold, you seek to go to your own country?” He answered, “Nothing, however only let me depart.”
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God raised up an adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord, Hadadezer king of Zobah.
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He gathered men to himself, and became captain over a troop, when David killed them of Zobah. They went to Damascus and lived there, and reigned in Damascus.
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He was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, in addition to the mischief of Hadad. He abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.
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Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, also lifted up his hand against the king.
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This was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breach of his father David’s city.
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The man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon saw the young man that he was industrious, and he put him in charge of all the labor of the house of Joseph.
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At that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the way. Now Ahijah had clad himself with a new garment; and the two of them were alone in the field.
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Ahijah took the new garment that was on him, and tore it in twelve pieces.
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He said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces; for the LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you
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(but he shall have one tribe, for my servant David’s sake and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel),
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because they have forsaken me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon. They have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in my eyes, and to keep my statutes and my ordinances, as David his father did.
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“‘However, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant’s sake whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes,
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but I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and will give it to you, even ten tribes.
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I will give one tribe to his son, that David my servant may have a lamp always before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for myself to put my name there.
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I will take you, and you shall reign according to all that your soul desires, and shall be king over Israel.
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It shall be, if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do that which is right in my eyes, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, that I will be with you, and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you.
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I will afflict the offspring of David for this, but not forever.’”
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Therefore Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
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Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, aren’t they written in the book of the acts of Solomon?
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The time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.
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Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in his father David’s city; and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.
Explanations by Age Level
Explain Like I'm 5
A long, long time ago, there was nothing at all - no earth, no sky, no animals, no people. It was all dark and empty. But God was there! God is so powerful that He can make anything just by speaking. So God said "Let there be light!" and BOOM! There was light everywhere! God saw that the light was beautiful and good. He called the light "day" and the darkness "night." This was the very first day when God started making our wonderful world!
Explain Like I'm 10
Before anything existed - no planets, stars, or life - God decided to create the universe. The earth started out as a dark, empty place covered with water. But God's Spirit was there, ready to bring order and beauty to everything. When God spoke and said "Let there be light," light immediately appeared because God's words have incredible power. God looked at the light and was pleased with what He had made. He organized time by separating light (day) from darkness (night), creating the first 24-hour period. This shows us that God is organized and purposeful in everything He does.
Explain Like I'm 15
Genesis 1:1-5 establishes fundamental theological truths about God and creation. The Hebrew word "bara" (created) indicates creation from nothing (ex nihilo), demonstrating God's absolute sovereignty and power. The phrase "without form and void" (tohu wa-bohu) describes a state of chaos that God transforms into order. The Spirit of God "hovering" or "brooding" over the waters suggests active, caring involvement in creation. The creation of light before the sun (created on day 4) indicates that God Himself is the ultimate source of light and energy. The establishment of day and night creates the framework of time, showing that God operates within orderly patterns while transcending them. This passage refutes both atheistic materialism and pantheism, establishing that God is both transcendent (separate from creation) and immanent (actively involved in it).