1 Kings 10 - 13 — Legacy Standard Bible

The Queen of Sheba

10^aNow the ^bqueen of ^cSheba heard the report about Solomon concerning the name of Yahweh. So she came ^dto test him with riddles. ²She came to Jerusalem with a very glorious retinue, with camels ^acarrying spices and very much gold and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and spoke to him about all that was in her heart. ³And Solomon declared to her the answer to all her matters; there was not a matter which was hidden from the king which he did not declare to her. ⁴Then the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, ⁵the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the disposition of his attendants and their attire, his cupbearers, and ¹his stairway by which he went up to the house of Yahweh, so that there was no more spirit in her. ⁶Then she said to the king, “The word is true which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. ⁷“Nevertheless I did not believe those words, until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not declared to me. You exceed, in wisdom and prosperity, the report which I heard. ⁸“How ^ablessed are your men, how blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom. ⁹“^aBlessed be Yahweh your God who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel; ^bbecause Yahweh loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, ^cto do justice and righteousness.” ¹⁰^aThen she gave the king ¹120 talents of gold and a very great amount of spices and precious stones. Never again did such abundance of spices come in as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

¹¹^aAlso, the ships of Hiram, which carried gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a very great number of almug trees and precious stones. ¹²^aAnd the king made of the almug trees supports for the house of Yahweh and for the king’s house, also lyres and harps for the singers; such almug trees have not come in again nor have they been seen to this day.

¹³Thus King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire which she asked, besides what he gave her according to ¹his royal bounty. Then she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants.

Solomon’s Riches and Wisdom

¹⁴^aNow the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, ¹⁵besides that from the traders and the ¹wares of the merchants and all the kings of the ^aArabs and the governors of the country. ¹⁶^aAnd King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold, ¹using 600 shekels of gold on each large shield. ¹⁷And he made ^a300 shields of beaten gold, ¹using ²three minas of gold on each shield, and ^bthe king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. ¹⁸Moreover, the king made a great throne of ^aivory and overlaid it with refined gold. ¹⁹There were six steps to the throne and a round top to the throne at its rear, and ¹arms ²on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the ³arms. ²⁰Twelve lions were also standing there on the six steps on the one side and on the other; nothing like it was made for all the other kingdoms. ²¹Now all King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None was of silver; it was not considered ¹valuable in the days of Solomon. ²²For ^athe king had at sea the ships of Tarshish with the ships of Hiram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came carrying gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks.

²³^aSo King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. ²⁴And all the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon, ^ato hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. ²⁵^aAnd they brought every man his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses, and mules, a set amount year by year.

²⁶^aAnd Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen. And he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen and ¹stationed them in the ^bchariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ²⁷^aThe king also made silver as plentiful as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the ¹Shephelah. ²⁸^aSolomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue; the king’s merchants procured them from Kue for a price. ²⁹And a chariot ¹was imported from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver, and a horse for 150; and ²by the same means they exported them ^ato all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram.

Solomon Turns from Yahweh

11Now ^aKing Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, ²from the nations concerning which Yahweh had said to the sons of Israel, “^aYou shall not ¹go along with them, nor shall they ²go along with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. ³^aAnd he had 700 wives—princesses—and 300 concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. ⁴Now it happened at the time that Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and ^ahis heart was not ¹wholly devoted to Yahweh his God, as the heart of David his father had been. ⁵For Solomon went after ^aAshtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after ¹^,^bMilcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites. ⁶And Solomon did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and did not follow Yahweh fully, as David his father had done. ⁷Then Solomon built a high place for ^aChemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is ¹east of Jerusalem, and for ^bMolech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon. ⁸Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

⁹Now ^aYahweh was angry with Solomon ^bbecause his heart was turned away from Yahweh, the God of Israel, ^cwho had appeared to him twice, ¹⁰and ^ahad commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not walk after other gods; but he did not keep what Yahweh had commanded. ¹¹So Yahweh said to Solomon, “Because this has happened with you: you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, so ^aI will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. ¹²“Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ¹³“However, ^aI will not tear away all the kingdom, but ^bI will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and ^cfor the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”

Yahweh Raises Up Adversaries

¹⁴Then Yahweh raised up an adversary to Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the seed of the king in Edom.

¹⁵Now it happened that ^awhen David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, and had ^bstruck down every male in Edom ¹⁶(for Joab and all Israel stayed there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom), ¹⁷that Hadad fled ¹to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him, while Hadad was a young boy. ¹⁸Then they arose from Midian and came to ^aParan; and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt. And he gave him a house and assigned him food and gave him land. ¹⁹And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh. So he gave him as a wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. ²⁰And the sister of Tahpenes bore his son Genubath. And Tahpenes weaned him in Pharaoh’s house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh.

²¹But ^aHadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army had died. So Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Send me away, that I may go to my own country.” ²²Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me, that behold, you are seeking to go to your own country?” And he answered, “Nothing; nevertheless you must surely ¹let me go.”

²³^aAnd God raised up another adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord ^bHadadezer king of Zobah. ²⁴And he gathered men to himself and became commander of a marauding band, ^aafter David killed some of ¹them; and they went to Damascus and stayed ²there, and reigned in Damascus. ²⁵So he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, along with the evil that Hadad did; and he abhorred Israel and reigned over Aram.

²⁶Now ^aJeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, ^balso ¹raised his hand against the king. ²⁷Now this was the reason why he ¹raised his hand against the king: ^aSolomon built the ²Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of his father David. ²⁸Now the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor. And ^aSolomon saw that the young man was ¹industrious and appointed him over all the load-bearers of the house of Joseph. ²⁹Now it happened at that time, that Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, and ^athat the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now ¹he had covered himself with a new cloak; and both of them were alone in the field. ³⁰Then ^aAhijah 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 thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, ^aI will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes, ³²^abut he will have one tribe, for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, ^bthe city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, ³³because they have forsaken Me, and ^ahave worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, ^bChemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My sight and to keep My statutes and My judgments, as his father David did. ³⁴‘Nevertheless I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ¹ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of My servant David whom I chose, who kept My commandments and My statutes; ³⁵but ^aI will take the kingdom from his son’s hand and give it to you—the ten tribes. ³⁶‘But ^ato his son I will give one tribe, ^bthat My servant David may have a lamp always before Me in Jerusalem, ^cthe city where I have chosen for Myself to put My name. ³⁷‘And I will take you, and you shall reign over whatever your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. ³⁸‘Then it will be, that if you listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then ^aI will be with you and ^bbuild you an enduring house as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. ³⁹‘Thus I will afflict the seed of David for this, but not always.’” ⁴⁰Solomon sought therefore to put Jeroboam to death; but Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt to ^aShishak king of Egypt, and he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

The Death of Solomon

⁴¹^aNow 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? ⁴²Thus ^athe time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. ⁴³And Solomon ^aslept with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David, and his son ^bRehoboam became king in his place.

Rehoboam Forsakes the Elders’ Counsel

12^aThen Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to ^bShechem to make him king. ²And it happened, ^awhen Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it, ¹he was living in Egypt (for he was yet in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon). ³Then they sent and called for him. And Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴“^aYour father made our yoke harsh; but you, now, lighten the harsh service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” ⁵Then he said to them, “^aGo ¹for three days, then return to me.” So the people went away.

⁶Then King Rehoboam ^atook counsel with the elders who had stood before his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you counsel me to respond to this people?” ⁷And they spoke to him, saying, “^aIf you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them and ¹grant them their petition, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” ⁸But he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had counseled him, and took counsel with the young men who grew up with him and stood before him. ⁹So he said to them, “What counsel do you give that we may respond to this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?” ¹⁰Then the young men who grew up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall say to this people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, now you make it lighter for us!’ Thus you shall speak to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins! ¹¹‘So now, my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”

¹²So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had spoken, saying, “^aReturn to me on the third day.” ¹³And the king answered the people harshly, and he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had ¹given him, ¹⁴and he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “^aMy 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; ^afor it was a turn of events from Yahweh, ^bthat He might establish His word, which Yahweh spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

Israel Rebels Against Judah

¹⁶Then all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them. So the people responded to the king with this word, saying, “What portion do we have in David?We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse;^aTo your tents, O Israel!Now see to your own house, David!” So Israel went to their tents.¹⁷But ^aas for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. ¹⁸Then King Rehoboam sent ^aAdoram, who was over the forced labor, and all Israel ¹stoned him and he died. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹^aSo Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

²⁰Now it happened when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent and called him to the congregation and made him king over all Israel. ^aNone but the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.

²¹^aThen Rehoboam came to Jerusalem and assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who could wage war, to fight against the house of Israel to return the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. ²²But the word of God came to ^aShemaiah the man of God, saying, ²³“Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and to the ^arest of the people, saying, ²⁴‘Thus says Yahweh, “You shall not go up and fight against your brothers, the sons of Israel; return every man to his house, ^afor this thing is from Me.”’” So they listened to the word of Yahweh, and returned to go their way according to the word of Yahweh.

Jeroboam Makes Golden Calves

²⁵Then ^aJeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived ¹there. And he went out from there and built ^bPenuel. ²⁶And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David. ²⁷“^aIf this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of Yahweh at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” ²⁸So the king took counsel, and ^amade two golden ^bcalves, and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; ^cbehold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.” ²⁹And he set ^aone in ^bBethel, and one he put in ^cDan. ³⁰Now ^athis thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. ³¹And ^ahe made houses on high places, and ^bmade priests from among ¹all the people who were not of the sons of Levi. ³²And Jeroboam made a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, ^alike the feast which is in Judah, and he ¹went up to the altar; thus he did in Bethel, to sacrifice to the calves which he had made. And he had ^bthe priests of the high places, which he had made, stand in Bethel. ³³Then he ¹went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had ²^,^adevised ³in his own heart; and he made a feast for the sons of Israel and ⁴went up to the altar ^bto burn ⁵incense.

The Altar Shall Be Torn Apart

13Now behold, there came ^aa man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of Yahweh, while Jeroboam was standing by the altar ^bto burn incense. ²^aAnd he cried against the altar by the word of Yahweh, and said, “O altar, altar, thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, ^bJosiah is his name; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’” ³Then he gave a miraculous sign the same day, saying, “^aThis is the miraculous sign which Yahweh has spoken, ‘Behold, the altar shall be torn apart and the ¹ashes which are on it shall be poured out.’” ⁴Now it happened that when the king heard the word of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him.” But his hand which he stretched out against him dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself. ⁵The altar also was torn apart and the ¹ashes were poured out from the altar, according to the miraculous sign which the man of God had given by the word of Yahweh. ⁶Then the king answered and said to the man of God, “Please ¹^,^aentreat Yahweh your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” So ^bthe man of God ²entreated Yahweh, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and it became as it was before. ⁷Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and ^aI will give you a gift.” ⁸But the man of God said to the king, “^aIf you were to give me half your house, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place. ⁹“For so ¹it was commanded me by the word of Yahweh, saying, ‘You shall eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way which you came.’” ¹⁰So he went another way and did not return by the way which he came to Bethel.

The Prophet Rebels Against Yahweh

¹¹Now ^aan old prophet was living in Bethel; and his ¹sons came and recounted to him all the work which the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words which he had spoken to the king, these also they recounted to their father. ¹²And their father said to them, “¹Which way did he go?” And his sons ²had seen the way which the man of God who came from Judah had gone. ¹³Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him and he rode away on it. ¹⁴So he went after the man of God and found him sitting under ¹an oak; and he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.” ¹⁵Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.” ¹⁶And he said, “^aI cannot return with you, nor go with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. ¹⁷“For a word came to me ^aby the word of Yahweh, ‘You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way which you came.’” ¹⁸And he said to him, “^aI also am a prophet like you, and ^ban angel spoke to me by the word of Yahweh, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But ^che dealt falsely with him. ¹⁹So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house and drank water.

²⁰Now it happened as they were sitting down at the table, that the word of Yahweh came to the prophet who had brought him back; ²¹and he called out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Because you have rebelled against the ¹word of Yahweh, and have not kept the commandment which Yahweh your God commanded you, ²²but have returned and eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which He said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water”; your body shall not come to the grave of your fathers.’” ²³Now it happened after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, for the prophet whom he had brought back. ²⁴Then he went and on the way ^aa lion met him and put him to death, and his body was thrown on the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion also was standing beside the body. ²⁵And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown on the road, and the lion standing beside the body; so they came and spoke about it in the city where ^athe old prophet lived.

²⁶Then the prophet, who brought him back from the way, heard it and said, “It is the man of God, who rebelled against the ¹command of Yahweh; therefore Yahweh has given him to the lion, which has mauled him and put him to death, according to the word of Yahweh which He spoke to him.” ²⁷Then he spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And they saddled it. ²⁸And he went and found his body thrown on the road with the donkey and the lion standing beside the body; the lion had not eaten the body nor mauled the donkey. ²⁹So the prophet took up the body of the man of God and laid it on the donkey and brought it back, and he came to the city of the old prophet to mourn and to bury him. ³⁰He laid his body in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, “^aAlas, my brother!” ³¹Now it happened after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, “When I die, you shall bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; ^alay my bones beside his bones. ³²“^aFor the word shall surely happen which he cried by the word of Yahweh against the altar in Bethel and ^bagainst all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of ^cSamaria.”

³³After this event Jeroboam did not return from his evil way, but ^ahe returned and made priests of the high places from among ¹all the people; ^bany who delighted to be so, he ordained. So ²they became priests of the high places. ³⁴¹^,^aAnd this event became sin to the house of Jeroboam, ^beven to blot it out and destroy it from off the face of the earth.