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Solomon Disobeys the Lord

11 1-2 (A) The Lord did not want the Israelites to worship foreign gods, so he had warned them not to marry anyone who was not from Israel.

Solomon loved his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt. But he also loved some women from Moab, Ammon, and Edom, and others from Sidon and the land of the Hittites. 3-4 Seven hundred of his wives were daughters of kings, but he also married 300 other women.[a]

As Solomon got older, some of his wives led him to worship their gods. He wasn't like his father David, who had worshiped only the Lord God. Solomon also worshiped Astarte the goddess of Sidon, and Milcom the disgusting god of Ammon. Solomon's father had obeyed the Lord with all his heart, but Solomon disobeyed and did what the Lord hated.

Solomon built shrines on a hill east of Jerusalem to worship Chemosh the disgusting god of Moab, and Molech the disgusting god of Ammon. In fact, he built a shrine for each of his foreign wives, so all of them could burn incense and offer sacrifices to their own gods.

9-10 The Lord God of Israel had appeared to Solomon two times and warned him not to worship foreign gods. But Solomon disobeyed and did it anyway. This made the Lord very angry, 11 and he said to Solomon:

You did what you wanted and not what I told you to do. Now I'm going to take your kingdom from you and give it to one of your officials. 12 But because David was your father, you will remain king as long as you live. I will wait until your son becomes king, then I will take the kingdom from him. 13 When I do, I will still let him rule one tribe, because I have not forgotten that David was my servant and Jerusalem is my chosen city.

Hadad Becomes an Enemy of Solomon

14 Hadad was from the royal family of Edom, and here is how the Lord made him Solomon's enemy:

15-16 Some time earlier, when David conquered the nation of Edom,[b] Joab his army commander went there to bury those who had died in battle. Joab and his soldiers stayed in Edom six months, and during that time they killed every man and boy who lived there.

17-19 Hadad was a boy at the time, but he escaped to Midian with some of his father's officials. At Paran some other men joined them, and they went to the king of Egypt. The king liked Hadad and gave him food, some land, and a house, and even let him marry the sister of Queen Tahpenes. 20 Hadad and his wife had a son named Genubath, and the queen let the boy grow up in the palace with her own children.

21 When Hadad heard that David and Joab were dead, he said to the king, “Your Majesty, please let me go back to my own country.”

22 “Why?” asked the king. “Do you want something I haven't given you?”

“No, I just want to go home.”

Rezon Becomes an Enemy of Solomon

23 Here is how God made Rezon son of Eliada an enemy of Solomon:

Rezon had run away from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah. 24-25 He formed his own small army and became its leader after David had defeated Hadadezer's troops.[c] Then Rezon and his army went to Damascus, where he became the ruler of Syria and an enemy of Israel.

Both Hadad and Rezon were enemies of Israel while Solomon was king, and they caused him a lot of trouble.

The Lord Makes a Promise to Jeroboam

26 Jeroboam was from the town of Zeredah in Ephraim. His father Nebat had died, but his mother Zeruah was still alive. Jeroboam was one of Solomon's officials, but even he rebelled against Solomon. 27 Here is how it happened:

While Solomon's workers were filling in the land on the east side of Jerusalem[d] and repairing the city walls, 28 Solomon noticed that Jeroboam was a hard worker. So he put Jeroboam in charge of the work force from Manasseh and Ephraim.

29-30 One day when Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, he met Ahijah, a prophet from Shiloh. No one else was anywhere around. Suddenly, Ahijah took off his new coat and ripped it into twelve pieces. 31 Then he said:

Jeroboam, take ten pieces of this coat and listen to what the Lord God of Israel says to you. “Jeroboam, I am the Lord God, and I am about to take Solomon's kingdom from him and give you ten tribes to rule. 32 But Solomon will still rule one tribe,[e] since he is the son of David my servant, and Jerusalem is my chosen city.

33 “Solomon and the Israelites are not like their ancestor David. They will not listen to me, obey me, or do what is right. They have turned from me to worship Astarte the goddess of Sidon, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of Ammon.

34 “Solomon is David's son, and David was my chosen leader, who did what I commanded. So I will let Solomon be king until he dies. 35 Then I will give you ten tribes to rule, 36 but Solomon's son will still rule one tribe. This way, my servant David will always have a descendant ruling in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to be worshiped.

37 “You will be king of Israel and will rule every nation you want. 38 I'll help you if you obey me. And if you do what I say, as my servant David did, I will always let someone from your family rule in Israel, just as someone from David's family will always rule in Judah. The nation of Israel will be yours.

39 “I will punish the descendants of David, but not forever.”

40 When Solomon learned what the Lord had told Jeroboam, Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. But he escaped to King Shishak of Egypt and stayed there until Solomon died.

Solomon Dies

(2 Chronicles 9.29-31)

41 Everything else Solomon did while he was king is written in the book about him and his wisdom. 42 After he had ruled 40 years from Jerusalem, 43 he died and was buried there in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam then became king.

Some of the People Rebel against Rehoboam

(2 Chronicles 10.1-19)

12 Rehoboam went to Shechem where everyone was waiting to crown him king.

Jeroboam son of Nebat heard what was happening, and he stayed in Egypt,[f] where he had gone to hide from Solomon. But the people from the northern tribes of Israel sent for him. Then together they went to Rehoboam and said, “Your father Solomon forced us to work very hard. But if you make our work easier, we will serve you and do whatever you ask.”

“Give me three days to think about it,” Rehoboam replied, “then come back for my answer.” So the people left.

Rehoboam went to some leaders who had been his father's senior officials, and he asked them, “What should I tell these people?”

They answered, “If you want them to serve and obey you, then you should do what they ask today. Tell them you will make their work easier.”

But Rehoboam refused their advice and went to the younger men who had grown up with him and were now his officials. He asked, “What do you think I should say to these people who asked me to make their work easier?”

10 His younger advisors said:

Here's what we think you should say to them: “Compared to me, my father was weak.[g] 11 He made you work hard, but I'll make you work even harder. He punished you with whips, but I'll use whips with pieces of sharp metal!”

12 Three days later, Jeroboam and the others came back. 13 Rehoboam ignored the advice of the older advisors. 14 He spoke bluntly and told them exactly what his own advisors had suggested: “My father made you work hard, but I'll make you work even harder. He punished you with whips, but I'll use whips with pieces of sharp metal!”

15-19 (B) When the people realized that Rehoboam would not listen to them, they shouted: “We don't have to be loyal to David's family. We can do what we want. Come on, people of Israel, let's go home! Rehoboam can rule his own people.”

Adoniram[h] was in charge of the forced labor, and Rehoboam sent him to talk to the people. But they stoned him to death. Then Rehoboam ran to his chariot and hurried back to Jerusalem.

So the people from the northern tribes of Israel went home, leaving Rehoboam to rule only the people from the towns in Judah. Ever since that day, the people of Israel have opposed David's family in Judah. All of this happened just as the Lord's prophet Ahijah had told Jeroboam.

20 When the Israelites heard that Jeroboam was back, they called everyone together. Then they sent for Jeroboam and made him king of Israel. Only the people from the tribe of Judah[i] remained loyal to David's family.

Shemaiah Warns Rehoboam

(2 Chronicles 11.1-4)

21 After Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem, he decided to attack Israel and take control of the whole country. So he called together 180,000 soldiers from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

22 Meanwhile, God told Shemaiah the prophet 23 to give Rehoboam and everyone from Judah and Benjamin this warning: 24 “Don't go to war against the people from Israel—they are your relatives. Go home! I am the Lord, and I made these things happen.”

Rehoboam and his army obeyed the Lord and went home.

Jeroboam Makes Religious Changes

25 Jeroboam rebuilt Shechem in Ephraim and made it a stronger town, then he moved there. He also fortified the town of Penuel.

26-27 One day, Jeroboam started thinking, “Everyone in Israel still goes to the temple in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the Lord. What if they become loyal to David's family again? They will kill me and accept Rehoboam as their king.”

28 (C) Jeroboam asked for advice and then made two gold statues of calves. He showed them to the people and said, “Listen everyone! You won't have to go to Jerusalem to worship anymore. Here are your gods[j] who rescued you from Egypt.” 29 Then he put one of the gold calves in the town of Bethel and the other in the town of Dan. 30 The people sinned because they started going to these places to worship.

31 Jeroboam built small places of worship at the shrines[k] and appointed men who were not from the tribe of Levi to serve as priests. 32-33 (D) He also decided to start a new festival for the Israelites on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, just like the one in Judah.[l] On that day, Jeroboam went to Bethel and offered sacrifices on the altar to the gold calf he had put there. Then he assigned the priests their duties.

Footnotes

  1. 11.3,4 other women: This translates a Hebrew word for a woman who was legally bound to a man, but without the full privileges of a wife.
  2. 11.15,16 Edom: See 2 Samuel 8.13,14.
  3. 11.24,25 troops: See 2 Samuel 8.3-6.
  4. 11.27 filling … Jerusalem: See the note at 9.15.
  5. 11.31,32 ten tribes … one tribe: By this time the tribe of Simeon had become part of the tribe of Judah. “One tribe” refers to Judah. Instead of “one tribe,” one ancient translation has “two tribes.”
  6. 12.2 he stayed in Egypt: Hebrew; two ancient translations “he returned from Egypt” (see also 2 Chronicles 10.2).
  7. 12.10 Compared … weak: Hebrew “My little finger is bigger than my father's waist.”
  8. 12.15-19 Adoniram: Two ancient translations (see also 4.6 and 5.14); Hebrew “Adoram.”
  9. 12.20 Israelites … Israel … Judah: From this time on, “Israel” usually refers to the northern kingdom, and “Israelites” refers to the people who lived there. The southern kingdom is called “Judah.”
  10. 12.28 Here are your gods: Or “Here is your God.”
  11. 12.31 shrines: See the note at 3.2.
  12. 12.32,33 the one in Judah: This probably refers to the Festival of Shelters.

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