1 Kings 11, Revelation 19, Song of Songs 8

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.

Hallelujah!

19After these things I heard something like a ^aloud voice of a great crowd in heaven, saying, “^bHallelujah! ^cSalvation and ^dglory and power belong to our God; ²^abecause His ^bjudgments are ^ctrue and righteous; for He has judged the ^dgreat harlot who was corrupting the earth with her sexual immorality, and He has ^eavenged the blood of His slaves shed by her hand.” ³And a second time they said, “^aHallelujah! ^bHer smoke rises up forever and ever.” ⁴And the ^atwenty-four elders and the ^bfour living creatures ^cfell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “^dAmen. ^eHallelujah!” ⁵And a voice came from the throne, saying, “^aGive praise to our God, all you His slaves, ^byou who fear Him, the small and the great.” ⁶Then I heard something like ^athe voice of a great crowd and like ^bthe sound of many waters and like the ^csound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “^dHallelujah! For the ^eLord our God, the Almighty, reigns.

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

⁷“Let us rejoice and be glad and ^agive the glory to Him, for ^bthe marriage of the Lamb has come and His ¹^,^cbride has made herself ready.” ⁸And it was given to her to clothe herself in ^afine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the ^brighteous acts of the saints.

⁹Then ^ahe *said to me, “^bWrite, ‘^cBlessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me, “^dThese are true words of God.” ¹⁰Then ^aI fell at his feet to worship him. ^bBut he *said to me, “¹Do not do that! I am a ^cfellow slave with you and your brothers who ^dhave the witness of Jesus. Worship God! For the witness of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

The Rider on a White Horse

¹¹Then I saw ^aheaven opened, and behold, a ^bwhite horse, and He who sits on it is called ^cFaithful and True, and in ^drighteousness He judges and wages war. ¹²His ^aeyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many ^bdiadems; having a ^cname written on Him which no one knows except Himself, ¹³and being clothed with a ^agarment dipped in blood, His name is also called ^bThe Word of God. ¹⁴And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in ^afine linen, ^bwhite and clean, were following Him on white horses. ¹⁵^aAnd from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may ^bstrike down the nations, and He will ¹^,^crule them with a rod of iron; and ^dHe treads the wine press of the wrath of the rage of God, the Almighty. ¹⁶And He has on His garment and on His thigh ^aa name written, “^bKING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

¹⁷Then I saw ¹an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to ^aall the birds which fly in ^bmidheaven, “^cCome, assemble for the great supper of God, ¹⁸so that you may ^aeat the flesh of kings and the flesh of ¹commanders and the flesh of strong men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, ^bboth free men and slaves, and ^csmall and great.”

¹⁹Then I saw ^athe beast and ^bthe kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war with Him who ^csits on the horse and with His army.

The Beast and False Prophet Are Seized

²⁰And the beast was seized, and with him the ^afalse prophet who ^bdid the signs ¹^,^cin his presence, by which he ^ddeceived those who had received the ^emark of the beast and those who ^fworshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with ²brimstone. ²¹And the rest were killed with the sword which ^acame from the mouth of Him who ^bsits on the horse, and ^call the birds were filled with their flesh.

The Power and Preciousness of Love

8“Oh that you were like a brother to meWho nursed at my mother’s breasts.If I found you outside, I would kiss you;No one would despise me, either.²“I would lead you and ^abring youInto the house of my mother, who used to teach me;I would give you spiced wine to drink from the sweet wine of my pomegranates.³“Let ^ahis left hand be under my headAnd his right hand embrace me.”⁴“¹^,^aI call you to solemnly swear, O daughters of Jerusalem,²Why should you arouse or awaken my loveUntil ³she pleases?”⁵“¹^,^aWho is this coming up from the wildernessLeaning on her beloved?”“²Beneath the ³^,^bapple tree I awakened you;There your mother was in labor with you;There she was in labor and gave you birth.⁶“Put me like a ¹seal over your heart,Like a ^aseal on your arm.For love is as strong as death,²^,^bJealousy is as severe as Sheol;Its flashes are flashes of fire,³The very flame of ⁴Yah.⁷“Many waters cannot quench love,Nor will rivers overflow it;^aIf a man were to give all the riches of his house for love,It would be utterly despised.”⁸“¹We have a little sister,And she ^ahas no breasts;What shall we do for our sisterOn the day when she is spoken for?⁹“If she is a wall,We will build on her a battlement of silver;But if she is a door,We will barricade her with ^aplanks of cedar.”¹⁰“¹I was a wall, and ^amy breasts were like towers;Then I became in his eyes as one who finds peace.¹¹“Solomon had a ^avineyard at Baal-hamon;He ^bgave the vineyard to ^ccaretakers.Each one was to bring ¹one ^dthousand shekels of silver for its ^efruit.¹²“My very own vineyard is before me;The thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,And two hundred are for those who take care of its fruit.”¹³“¹O you who sit in the gardens,My ^acompanions are giving heed to your voice—^bLet me hear it!”¹⁴“¹^,²Hurry, my beloved,And be ^alike a gazelle or a young ³stagOn the ^bmountains of spices.”