⁷ So the five men^(A) left and came to Laish,^(B) where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, at peace and secure.^(C) And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous.^[a] Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians^(D) and had no relationship with anyone else.^[b]

Solomon’s Wives

11 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women^(A) besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites,^(B) Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. ² They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry^(C) with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. ³ He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines,^(D) and his wives led him astray.^{(E) 4} As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods,^(F) and his heart was not fully devoted^(G) to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. ⁵ He followed Ashtoreth^(H) the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek^(I) the detestable god of the Ammonites.

Servants of Baal Killed

¹⁸ Then Jehu brought all the people together and said to them, “Ahab served^(A) Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much.

¹⁶ They forsook all the commands of the Lord their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves,^(A) and an Asherah^(B) pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts,^(C) and they worshiped Baal.^(D)