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¹Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon in relation to the name of the LORD, she came to test him with riddles.

²So she came to Jerusalem with a very large entourage, with camels carrying balsam oil and a very large quantity of gold and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke to him about everything that was in her heart.

³And Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was concealed from the king which he did not explain to her.

⁴When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,

⁵and the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings which he offered at the house of the LORD, she was breathless.

⁶Then she said to the king, “It was a true story that I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom.

⁷But I did not believe the stories until I came and my own eyes saw it all. And behold, the half of it was not reported to me. You have exceeded in wisdom and prosperity the report which I heard.

⁸Blessed are your men, and blessed are these servants of yours who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom!

⁹Blessed be the LORD your God who delighted in you to put you on the throne of Israel; because the LORD loves Israel forever, He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.”

¹⁰Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, and a very large amount of balsam oil and precious stones. Never again did such a large quantity of balsam oil come in as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

¹¹And the ships of Hiram as well, which brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a very great number of almug trees and precious stones.

¹²The king made from the almug trees supports for the house of the LORD and for the king’s house, and lyres and harps for the singers; such almug trees have not come in again, nor have they been seen to this day.

¹³And King Solomon granted the queen of Sheba everything she desired, whatever she requested, besides what he gave her in proportion to his royal bounty. Then she departed and went to her own land together with her servants.

¹⁴Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold,

¹⁵besides that from the traders, and the wares of the merchants and all the kings of the Arabs and the governors of the country.

¹⁶King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold, using six hundred shekels of gold on each large shield.

¹⁷And he made three hundred small shields of beaten gold, using three minas of gold on each shield; and the king put them in the house of the timber of Lebanon.

¹⁸Moreover, the king made a large throne of ivory and overlaid it with fine gold.

¹⁹There were six steps to the throne and a round top to the throne at its back, and armrests on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.

²⁰Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps on the one side and on the other; nothing like it was made for any other kingdom.

²¹Now all King Solomon’s drinking utensils were of gold, and all the utensils of the house of the timber of Lebanon were of pure gold. None was of silver; it was not considered as amounting to anything in the days of Solomon.

²²For the king had the ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s ships; once every three years the ships of Tarshish would come carrying gold and silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.

²³So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom.

²⁴And all the earth was seeking the attention of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

²⁵And they were bringing, everyone, a gift: articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, balsam oil, horses, and mules, so much year by year.

²⁶Now Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; and he had 1,400 chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

²⁷And the king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the lowland.

²⁸Also Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s merchants acquired them from Kue for a price.

²⁹A chariot was imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for 150; and by the same means they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of the Arameans.

¹Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,

²from the nations of which the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, “You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you; they will certainly turn your heart away to follow their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love.

³He had seven hundred wives, who were princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned his heart away.

⁴For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of his father David had been.

⁵For Solomon became a follower of Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and of Milcom the abhorrent idol of the Ammonites.

⁶So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow the LORD fully, as his father David had done.

⁷Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abhorrent idol of Moab, on the mountain that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abhorrent idol of the sons of Ammon.

⁸He also did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

⁹Now the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,

¹⁰and had commanded him regarding this thing, that he was not to follow other gods; but he did not comply with what the LORD had commanded.

¹¹So the LORD said to Solomon, “Since you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will certainly tear the kingdom away from you, and will give it to your servant.

¹²However, I will not do it in your days, only for the sake of your father David; but I will tear it away from the hand of your son.

¹³Yet I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

¹⁴Then the LORD raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the royal line in Edom.

¹⁵For it came about, when David was in Edom and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury those killed in battle, and had struck and killed every male in Edom

¹⁶(for Joab and all Israel stayed there for six months, until he had eliminated every male in Edom),

¹⁷that Hadad fled to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him, while Hadad was a young boy.

¹⁸They set out from Midian and came to Paran; and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and assigned him food and gave him land.

¹⁹Now Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.

²⁰And the sister of Tahpenes gave birth to his son Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh.

²¹But when Hadad heard in Egypt that David lay down with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me go, so that I may go to my own country.”

²²However, Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me that you are here, requesting to go to your own country?” And he answered, “Nothing; nevertheless you must let me go.”

²³God also raised up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master Hadadezer, king of Zobah.

²⁴And he gathered men to himself and became leader of a marauding band, after David killed those of Zobah; and they went to Damascus and stayed there, and reigned in Damascus.

²⁵So he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, along with the harm that Hadad inflicted; and he felt disgust for Israel and reigned over Aram.

²⁶Then Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, also rebelled against the king.

²⁷Now this was the reason why he rebelled against the king: Solomon built the Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of his father David.

²⁸Now the man Jeroboam was a valiant warrior, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, he appointed him over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph.

²⁹And it came about at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had clothed himself with a new cloak; and both of them were alone in the field.

³⁰Then Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which was on him and tore it into twelve pieces.

³¹And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces; for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, I am going to tear the kingdom away from the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes

³²(but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel),

³³because they have abandoned Me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways, doing what is right in My sight and keeping My statutes and My ordinances, as his father David did.

³⁴Nevertheless I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of My servant David whom I chose, who kept My commandments and My statutes;

³⁵but I will take the kingdom from his son’s hand and give it to you; that is, ten tribes.

³⁶But to his son I will give one tribe, so that My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen for Myself to put My name.

³⁷However I will take you, and you shall reign over all that you desire, and you shall be king over Israel.

³⁸Then it shall be, that if you listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight by keeping My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build you an enduring house as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.

³⁹So I will oppress the descendants of David for this, but not always.’ ”

⁴⁰Solomon sought therefore to put Jeroboam to death; but Jeroboam set out and fled to Egypt to Shishak king of Egypt, and he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

⁴¹Now the rest of the acts of Solomon and whatever he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon?

⁴²So the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.

⁴³Then Solomon lay down with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David, and his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.

¹Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.

²Now when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard about this, he was living in Egypt (for he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon).

³Then they sent word and summoned him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,

⁴“Your father made our yoke hard; but now, lighten the hard labor imposed by your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”

⁵Then he said to them, “Depart for three days, then return to me.” So the people departed.

⁶And King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?”

⁷Then they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them and grant them their request, and speak pleasant words to them, then they will be your servants always.”

⁸But he ignored the advice of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who had grown up with him and served him.

⁹He said to them, “What advice do you give, so that we may answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?”

¹⁰And the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “This is what you should say to this people who spoke to you, saying: ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, now you make it lighter for us!’ You should speak this way to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist!

¹¹Now then, my father loaded you with a heavy yoke; yet I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions!’ ”

¹²Then Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had directed, saying, “Return to me on the third day.”

¹³And the king answered the people harshly, for he ignored the advice of the elders which they had given him,

¹⁴and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions!”

¹⁵So the king did not listen to the people; because it was a turn of events from the LORD, in order to establish His word which the LORD spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶When all Israel saw that the king had not listened to them, the people replied to the king, saying, “What share do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; To your tents, Israel! Now look after your own house, David!” So Israel went away to their tents.

¹⁷But as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

¹⁸Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.

¹⁹So Israel has broken with the house of David to this day.

²⁰And it came about, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent word and called him to the assembly, and made him king over all Israel. None except the tribe of Judah alone followed the house of David.

²¹Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.

²²But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

²³“Tell Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and the rest of the people, saying,

²⁴‘This is what the LORD says: “You shall not go up nor fight against your relatives the sons of Israel; return, every man to his house, for this thing has come from Me.” ’ ” So they listened to the word of the LORD, and returned to go their way in accordance with the word of the LORD.

²⁵Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived there. And he went out from there and built Penuel.

²⁶And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David.

²⁷If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.”

²⁸So the king consulted, and he made two golden calves; and he said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.”

²⁹And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

³⁰Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan.

³¹And he made houses on high places, and appointed priests from all the people who were not of the sons of Levi.

³²Jeroboam also instituted a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he went up to the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made. And he stationed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.

³³Then he went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, the month that he had devised in his own heart; and he instituted a feast for the sons of Israel and went up to the altar to burn incense.