Solomon's fame and fall

1 Kings 10–11 WEB

^10:1When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the LORD’s name, she came to test him with hard questions. ²She came to Jerusalem with a very great caravan, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she had come to Solomon, she talked with him about all that was in her heart. ³Solomon answered all her questions. There wasn’t anything hidden from the king which he didn’t tell her. ⁴When the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, ⁵the food of his table, the sitting of his servants, the attendance of his officials, their clothing, his cup bearers, and his ascent by which he went up to the LORD’s house, there was no more spirit in her. ⁶She said to the king, “It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts and of your wisdom. ⁷However, I didn’t believe the words until I came and my eyes had seen it. Behold, not even half was told me! Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard. ⁸Happy are your men, happy are these your servants who stand continually before you, who hear your wisdom. ⁹Blessed is the LORD your God, who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel. Because the LORD loved Israel forever, therefore he made you king, to do justice and righteousness.” ¹⁰She gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, and a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again was there such an abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. ¹¹The fleet of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir also brought in from Ophir great quantities of almug trees and precious stones. ¹²The king made of the almug trees pillars for the LORD’s house and for the king’s house, harps also and stringed instruments for the singers; no such almug trees came or were seen to this day. ¹³King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, in addition to that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants. ¹⁴Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold, ¹⁵in addition to that which the traders brought, and the traffic of the merchants, and of all the kings of the mixed people, and of the governors of the country. ¹⁶King Solomon made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of gold went to one buckler. ¹⁷He made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went to one shield; and the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. ¹⁸Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the finest gold. ¹⁹There were six steps to the throne, and the top of the throne was round behind; and there were armrests on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests. ²⁰Twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other on the six steps. Nothing like it was made in any kingdom. ²¹All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver, because it was considered of little value in the days of Solomon. ²²For the king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet. Once every three years the fleet of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. ²³So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. ²⁴All the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. ²⁵Year after year, every man brought his tribute, vessels of silver, vessels of gold, clothing, armor, spices, horses, and mules. ²⁶Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. He kept them in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. ²⁷The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and cedars as common as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland. ²⁸The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt. The king’s merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price. ²⁹A chariot was imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred fifty shekels; and so they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Syria.

^11:1Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites, ²of 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. ³He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines. His wives turned his heart away. ⁴When 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. ⁵For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. ⁶Solomon did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, and didn’t go fully after the LORD, as David his father did. ⁷Then 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. ⁸So he did 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, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, ¹⁰and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he didn’t keep that which the LORD commanded. ¹¹Therefore 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. ¹²Nevertheless, 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. ¹³However, 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.” ¹⁴The LORD raised up an adversary to Solomon: Hadad the Edomite. He was one of the king’s offspring in Edom. ¹⁵For 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 ¹⁶(for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom), ¹⁷Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him, to go into Egypt, when Hadad was still a little child. ¹⁸They 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. ¹⁹Hadad 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. ²⁰The 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. ²¹When 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.” ²²Then 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.” ²³God raised up an adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord, Hadadezer king of Zobah. ²⁴He 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. ²⁵He was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, in addition to the mischief of Hadad. He abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria. ²⁶Jeroboam 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. ²⁷This 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. ²⁸The man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, and he put him in charge of all the labor of the house of Joseph. ²⁹At 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. ³⁰Ahijah took the new garment that was on him, and tore it in twelve pieces. ³¹He 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 ³²(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), ³³because 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. ³⁴“‘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, ³⁵but I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and will give it to you, even ten tribes. ³⁶I 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. ³⁷I will take you, and you shall reign according to all that your soul desires, and shall be king over Israel. ³⁸It 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. ³⁹I will afflict the offspring of David for this, but not forever.’” ⁴⁰Therefore 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. ⁴¹Now 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? ⁴²The time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. ⁴³Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in his father David’s city; and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.