Parallel Bible results for "1 kings 11"

1 Kings 11

The Message Bible MSG

1 King Solomon was obsessed with women. Pharaoh's daughter was only the first of the many foreign women he loved - Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite.

2 He took them from the surrounding pagan nations of which God had clearly warned Israel, "You must not marry them; they'll seduce you into infatuations with their gods." Solomon fell in love with them anyway, refusing to give them up.

3 He had seven hundred royal wives and three hundred concubines - a thousand women in all! And they did seduce him away from God.

4 As Solomon grew older, his wives beguiled him with their alien gods and he became unfaithful - he didn't stay true to his God as his father David had done.

5 Solomon took up with Ashtoreth, the whore goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the horrible god of the Ammonites.

6 Solomon openly defied God; he did not follow in his father David's footsteps.

7 He went on to build a sacred shrine to Chemosh, the horrible god of Moab, and to Molech, the horrible god of the Ammonites, on a hill just east of Jerusalem.

8 He built similar shrines for all his foreign wives, who then polluted the countryside with the smoke and stench of their sacrifices.

9 God was furious with Solomon for abandoning the God of Israel, the God who had twice appeared to him

10 and had so clearly commanded him not to fool around with other gods. Solomon faithlessly disobeyed God's orders.

11 God said to Solomon, "Since this is the way it is with you, that you have no intention of keeping faith with me and doing what I have commanded, I'm going to rip the kingdom from you and hand it over to someone else.

12 But out of respect for your father David I won't do it in your lifetime. It's your son who will pay - I'll rip it right out of his grasp.

13 Even then I won't take it all; I'll leave him one tribe in honor of my servant David and out of respect for my chosen city Jerusalem."

14 God incited Hadad, a descendant of the king of Edom, into hostile actions against Solomon.

15 Years earlier, when David devastated Edom, Joab, commander of the army, on his way to bury the dead, massacred all the men of Edom.

16 Joab and his army stayed there for six months, making sure they had killed every man in Edom.

17 Hadad, just a boy at the time, had escaped with some of the Edomites who had worked for his father.

18 Their escape route took them through Midian to Paran. They picked up some men in Paran and went on to Egypt and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house, food, and even land.

19 Pharaoh liked him so well that he gave him the sister of his wife, Queen Tahpenes, in marriage.

20 She bore Hadad a son named Genubath who was raised like one of the royal family. Genubath grew up in the palace with Pharaoh's children.

21 While living in Egypt, Hadad heard that both David and Joab, commander of the army, were dead. He approached Pharaoh and said, "Send me off with your blessing - I want to return to my country."

22 "But why?" said Pharaoh. "Why would you want to leave here? Hasn't everything been to your liking?" "Everything has been just fine," said Hadad, "but I want to go home - give me a good send-off!"

23 Then God incited another adversary against Solomon, Rezon son of Eliada, who had deserted from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah.

24 After David's slaughter of the Arameans, Rezon collected a band of outlaws and became their leader. They later settled in Damascus, where Rezon eventually took over as king.

25 Like Hadad, Rezon was a thorn in Israel's side all of Solomon's life. He was king over Aram, and he hated Israel.

26 And then, the last straw: Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against the king. He was an Ephraimite from Zeredah, his mother a widow named Zeruah. He served in Solomon's administration.

27 This is why he rebelled. Solomon had built the outer defense system (the Millo) and had restored the fortifications that were in disrepair from the time of his father David.

28 Jeroboam stood out during the construction as strong and able. When Solomon observed what a good worker he was, he put the young man in charge of the entire workforce of the tribe of Joseph.

29 One day Jeroboam was walking down the road out of Jerusalem. Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh, wearing a brand-new cloak, met him. The two of them were alone on that remote stretch of road.

30 Ahijah took off the new cloak that he was wearing and ripped it into twelve pieces.

31 Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take ten of these pieces for yourself; this is by order of the God of Israel: See what I'm doing - I'm ripping the kingdom out of Solomon's hands and giving you ten of the tribes.

32 In honor of my servant David and out of respect for Jerusalem, the city I especially chose, he will get one tribe.

33 And here's the reason: He faithlessly abandoned me and went off worshiping Ashtoreth goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh god of the Moabites, and Molech god of the Ammonites. He hasn't lived the way I have shown him, hasn't done what I have wanted, and hasn't followed directions or obeyed orders as his father David did.

34 "Still, I won't take the whole kingdom away from him. I'll stick with him through his lifetime because of my servant David whom I chose and who did follow my directions and obey my orders.

35 But after that I'll remove the kingdom from his son's control and give you ten tribes.

36 I'll leave one tribe to his son, to maintain a witness to my servant David in Jerusalem, the city I chose as a memorial to my Name.

37 "But I have taken you in hand. Rule to your heart's content! You are to be the king of Israel.

38 If you listen to what I tell you and live the way I show you and do what pleases me, following directions and obeying orders as my servant David did, I'll stick with you no matter what. I'll build you a kingdom as solid as the one I built for David. Israel will be yours!

39 I am bringing pain and trouble on David's descendants, but the trials won't last forever."

40 Solomon ordered the assassination of Jeroboam, but he got away to Egypt and found asylum there with King Shishak. He remained in exile there until Solomon died.

41 The rest of Solomon's life and rule, his work and his wisdom, you can read for yourself in The Chronicles of Solomon.

42 Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years.

43 He died and was buried in the City of David his father. His son Rehoboam was the next king.

New Century Version NCV

1 King Solomon loved many women who were not from Israel. He loved the daughter of the king of Egypt, as well as women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites.

2 The Lord had told the Israelites, "You must not marry people of other nations. If you do, they will cause you to follow their gods." But Solomon fell in love with these women.

3 He had seven hundred wives who were from royal families and three hundred slave women who gave birth to his children. His wives caused him to turn away from God.

4 As Solomon grew old, his wives caused him to follow other gods. He did not follow the Lord completely as his father David had done.

5 Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the people of Sidon, and Molech, the hated god of the Ammonites.

6 So Solomon did what the Lord said was wrong and did not follow the Lord completely as his father David had done.

7 On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built two places for worship. One was a place to worship Chemosh, the hated god of the Moabites, and the other was a place to worship Molech, the hated god of the Ammonites.

8 Solomon did the same thing for all his foreign wives so they could burn incense and offer sacrifices to their gods.

9 The Lord had appeared to Solomon twice, but the king turned away from following the Lord, the God of Israel. The Lord was angry with Solomon,

10 because he had commanded Solomon not to follow other gods. But Solomon did not obey the Lord's command.

11 So the Lord said to Solomon, "Because you have chosen to break your agreement with me and have not obeyed my commands, I will tear your kingdom away from you and give it to one of your officers.

12 But I will not take it away while you are alive because of my love for your father David. I will tear it away from your son when he becomes king.

13 I will not tear away all the kingdom from him, but I will leave him one tribe to rule. I will do this because of David, my servant, and because of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen."

14 The Lord caused Hadad the Edomite, a member of the family of the king of Edom, to become Solomon's enemy.

15 Earlier, David had defeated Edom. When Joab, the commander of David's army, went into Edom to bury the dead, he killed all the males.

16 Joab and all the Israelites stayed in Edom for six months and killed every male in Edom.

17 At that time Hadad was only a young boy, so he ran away to Egypt with some of his father's officers.

18 They left Midian and went to Paran, where they were joined by other men. Then they all went to Egypt to see the king, who gave Hadad a house, some food, and some land.

19 The king liked Hadad so much he gave Hadad a wife -- the sister of Tahpenes, the king's wife.

20 They had a son named Genubath. Queen Tahpenes brought him up in the royal palace with the king's own children.

21 While he was in Egypt, Hadad heard that David had died and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead also. So Hadad said to the king, "Let me go; I will return to my own country."

22 "Why do you want to go back to your own country?" the king asked. "What haven't I given you here?" "Nothing," Hadad answered, "but please, let me go."

23 God also caused another man to be Solomon's enemy -- Rezon son of Eliada. Rezon had run away from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah.

24 After David defeated the army of Zobah, Rezon gathered some men and became the leader of a small army. They went to Damascus and settled there, and Rezon became king of Damascus.

25 Rezon ruled Aram, and he hated Israel. So he was an enemy of Israel all the time Solomon was alive. Both Rezon and Hadad made trouble for Israel.

26 Jeroboam son of Nebat was one of Solomon's officers. He was an Ephraimite from the town of Zeredah, and he was the son of a widow named Zeruah. Jeroboam turned against the king.

27 This is the story of how Jeroboam turned against the king. Solomon was filling in the land and repairing the wall of Jerusalem, the city of David, his father.

28 Jeroboam was a capable man, and Solomon saw that this young man was a good worker. So Solomon put him over all the workers from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.

29 One day as Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, Ahijah, the prophet from Shiloh, who was wearing a new coat, met him on the road. The two men were alone out in the country.

30 Ahijah took his new coat and tore it into twelve pieces.

31 Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces of this coat for yourself. The Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I will tear the kingdom away from Solomon and give you ten tribes.

32 But I will allow him to control one tribe. I will do this for the sake of my servant David and for Jerusalem, the city I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel.

33 I will do this because Solomon has stopped following me and has worshiped the Sidonian god Ashtoreth, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Molech. Solomon has not obeyed me by doing what I said is right and obeying my laws and commands, as his father David did.

34 "'But I will not take all the kingdom away from Solomon. I will let him rule all his life because of my servant David, whom I chose, who obeyed all my commands and laws.

35 But I will take the kingdom away from his son, and I will allow you to rule over the ten tribes.

36 I will allow Solomon's son to continue to rule over one tribe so that there will always be a descendant of David, my servant, in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to be worshiped.

37 But I will make you rule over everything you want. You will rule over all of Israel,

38 and I will always be with you if you do what I say is right. You must obey all my commands. If you obey my laws and commands as David did, I will be with you. I will make your family a lasting family of kings, as I did for David, and give Israel to you.

39 I will punish David's children because of this, but I will not punish them forever.'"

40 Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but he ran away to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, where he stayed until Solomon died.

41 Everything else King Solomon did, and the wisdom he showed, is written in the book of the history of Solomon.

42 Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years.

43 Then he died and was buried in Jerusalem, the city of David, his father. And his son Rehoboam became king in his place.