I Kings 11

2  from the nations of which Hashem had said to the Israelites, “None of you shall join them and none of them shall join you, lest they turn your heart away to follow their gods.” Such Shlomo clung to and loved.

3  He had seven hundred royal wives and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned his heart away.

4  In his old age, his wives turned away Shlomo’s heart after other gods, and he was not as wholeheartedly devoted to Hashem his God as his father David had been.

5  Shlomo followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Phoenicians, and Milcom the abomination of the Amonites.

6  Shlomo did what was displeasing to Hashem and did not remain loyal to Hashem like his father David.

7  At that time, Shlomo built a shrine for Chemosh the abomination of Moab on the hill near Yerushalayim, and one for Molech the abomination of the Amonites.

8  And he did the same for all his foreign wives who offered and sacrificed to their gods.

9  Hashem was angry with Shlomo, because his heart turned away from Hashem, the God of Yisrael, who had appeared to him twice

10  and had commanded him about this matter, not to follow other gods; he did not obey what Hashem had commanded.

11  And Hashem said to Shlomo, “Because you are guilty of this—you have not kept My covenant and the laws which I enjoined upon you—I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants.

12  But, for the sake of your father David, I will not do it in your lifetime; I will tear it away from your son.

13  However, I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give your son one tribe, for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Yerushalayim which I have chosen.”

14  So Hashem raised up an adversary against Shlomo, the Edomite Hadad, who was of the royal family of Edom.

15  When David was in Edom, Yoav the army commander went up to bury the slain, and he killed every male in Edom;

16  for Yoav and all Yisrael stayed there for six months until he had killed off every male in Edom.

17  But Hadad, together with some Edomite men, servants of his father, escaped and headed for Egypt; Hadad was then a young boy.

18  Setting out from Midian, they came to Paran and took along with them men from Paran. Thus they came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, assigned a food allowance to him, and granted him an estate.

19  Pharaoh took a great liking to Hadad and gave him his sister-in-law, the sister of Queen Tahpenes, as wife.

20  The sister of Tahpenes bore him a son, Genubath. Tahpenes weaned him in Pharaoh’s palace, and Genubath remained in Pharaoh’s palace among the sons of Pharaoh.

21  When Hadad heard in Egypt that David had been laid to rest with his fathers and that Yoav the army commander was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Give me leave to go to my own country.”

22  Pharaoh replied, “What do you lack with me, that you want to go to your own country?” But he said, “Nevertheless, give me leave to go.”

23  Another adversary that Hashem raised up against Shlomo was Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord, King Hadadezer of Zobah,

24  when David was slaughtering them. He gathered men about him and became captain over a troop; they went to Damascus and settled there, and they established a kingdom in Damascus.

25  He was an adversary of Yisrael all the days of Shlomo, adding to the trouble [caused by] Hadad; he repudiated [the authority of] Yisrael and reigned over Aram.

26  Yerovam son of Nebat, an Efraimite of Zeredah, the son of a widow whose name was Zeruah, was in Shlomo’s service; he raised his hand against the king.

27  The circumstances under which he raised his hand against the king were as follows: Shlomo built the Millo and repaired the breach of the city of his father, David.

28  This Yerovam was an able man, and when Shlomo saw that the young man was a capable worker, he appointed him over all the forced labor of the House of Yosef.

29  During that time Yerovam went out of Yerushalayim and the NaviAchiya of Shilo met him on the way. He had put on a new robe; and when the two were alone in the open country,

30  Achiya took hold of the new robe he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.

31  “Take ten pieces,” he said to Yerovam. “For thus said Hashem, the God of Yisrael: I am about to tear the kingdom out of Shlomo’s hands, and I will give you ten tribes.

32  But one tribe shall remain his—for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Yerushalayim, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Yisrael.

33  For they have forsaken Me; they have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Phoenicians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Amonites; they have not walked in My ways, or done what is pleasing to Me, or [kept] My laws and rules, as his father David did.

34  However, I will not take the entire kingdom away from him, but will keep him as ruler as long as he lives for the sake of My servant David whom I chose, and who kept My commandments and My laws.

35  But I will take the kingship out of the hands of his son and give it to you—the ten tribes.

36  To his son I will give one tribe, so that there may be a lamp for My servant David forever before Me in Yerushalayim—the city where I have chosen to establish My name.

37  But you have been chosen by Me; reign wherever you wish, and you shall be king over Yisrael.

38  If you heed all that I command you, and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, keeping My laws and commandments as My servant David did, then I will be with you and I will build for you a lasting dynasty as I did for David. I hereby give Yisrael to you;

39  and I will chastise David’s descendants for that [sin], though not forever.”

40  Shlomo sought to put Yerovam to death, but Yerovam promptly fled to King Shishak of Egypt; and he remained in Egypt till the death of Shlomo.

41  The other events of Shlomo’s reign, and all his actions and his wisdom, are recorded in the book of the Annals of Shlomo.

42  The length of Shlomo’s reign in Yerushalayim, over all Yisrael, was forty years.

43  Shlomo slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David; and his son Rechovam succeeded him as king.