Day 188 of 365

¹Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites;

²of the nations concerning which the Lord said to the children of Israel, "You shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods." Solomon joined to these in love.

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

⁴For it happened, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.

⁵For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

⁶Solomon did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not go fully after the Lord, as did David his father.

⁷Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the mountain that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon.

⁸So he did for all his foreign wives, who burnt incense and sacrificed to their gods.

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

¹⁰and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he did not keep that which the Lord commanded.

¹¹Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, "Because this is done by you, and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.

¹²Notwithstanding I will not do it in your days, for David your father's sake; but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.

¹³However I will not tear away all the kingdom; but I will give one tribe to your son, for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen."

¹⁴The Lord raised up an adversary to Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king's seed in Edom.

¹⁵For it happened, when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the army was gone up to bury the slain, and had struck every male in Edom

¹⁶(for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom);

¹⁷that Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with him, to go into Egypt, Hadad being yet a little child.

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

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

²⁰The sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh's house among the sons of Pharaoh.

²¹When Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, "Let me depart, that I may go to my own country."

²²Then Pharaoh said to him, "But what have you lacked with me, that behold, you seek to go to your own country?" He answered, "Nothing, however only let me depart."

²³God raised up an adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah.

²⁴He gathered men to him, and became captain over a troop, when David killed them of Zobah: and they went to Damascus, and lived therein, and reigned in Damascus.

²⁵He was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, besides the mischief of Hadad: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.

²⁶Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow, he also lifted up his hand against the king.

²⁷This was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breach of the city of David his father.

²⁸The man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon saw the young man that he was industrious, and he put him in charge of all the labor of the house of Joseph.

²⁹It happened at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; now Ahijah had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field.

³⁰Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it in twelve pieces.

³¹He said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces; for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to you

³²(but he shall have one tribe, for my servant David's sake and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel);

³³because that they have forsaken me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon. They have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in my eyes, and to keep my statutes and my ordinances, as David his father did.

³⁴"'However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand; but I will make him prince all the days of his life, for David my servant's sake whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes;

³⁵but I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it to you, even ten tribes.

³⁶To his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a lamp always before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.

³⁷I will take you, and you shall reign according to all that your soul desires, and shall be king over Israel.

³⁸It shall be, if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do that which is right in my eyes, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with you, and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you.

³⁹I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not forever.'"

⁴⁰Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam; but Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

⁴¹Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, aren't they written in the book of the acts of Solomon?

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

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

¹Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.

²It happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was yet in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam lived in Egypt,

³and they sent and called him), that Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came, and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,

⁴"Your father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make you the grievous service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, lighter, and we will serve you."

⁵He said to them, "Depart for three days, then come back to me." The people departed.

⁶King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, "What counsel do you give me to return answer to this people?"

⁷They spoke to him, saying, "If you will be a servant to this people this day, and will serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever."

⁸But he forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him.

⁹He said to them, "What counsel do you give, that we may return answer to this people, who have spoken to me, saying, 'Make the yoke that your father put on us lighter?'"

¹⁰The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, "Thus you shall tell this people who spoke to you, saying, 'Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter to us;' you shall say to them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist.

¹¹Now whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.'"

¹²So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king asked, saying, "Come to me again the third day."

¹³The king answered the people roughly, and forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him,

¹⁴and spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions."

¹⁵So the king did not listen to the people; for it was a thing brought about of the Lord, that he might establish his word, which the Lord spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, "What portion have we in David? Neither do we have an inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, Israel! Now see to your own house, David." So Israel departed to their tents.

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

¹⁸Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the men subject to forced labor; and all Israel stoned him to death with stones. King Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.

¹⁹So Israel rebelled against the house of David to this day.

²⁰It happened, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was returned, that they sent and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.

²¹When Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men, who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.

²²But the word of God came to Shemaiah 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 rest of the people, saying,

²⁴'Thus says the Lord, "You shall not go up, nor fight against your brothers, the children of Israel. Everyone return to his house; for this thing is of me."'" So they listened to the word of the Lord, and returned and went their way, according to the word of the Lord.

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

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

²⁷If this people goes up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me, and return to Rehoboam king of Judah."

²⁸Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said to them, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look and see your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt!"

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

³⁰This thing became a sin; for the people went to worship before the one, even to Dan.

³¹He made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

³²Jeroboam ordained 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; he did so in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.

³³He went 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 devised of his own heart: and he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and went up to the altar, to burn incense.

¹Behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Beth El: and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense.

²He cried against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, "Altar, altar, thus says the Lord: 'Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name. On you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and they will burn men's bones on you.'"

³He gave a sign the same day, saying, "This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: Behold, the altar will be split apart, and the ashes that are on it will be poured out."

⁴It happened, when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, that Jeroboam put out his hand from the altar, saying, "Seize him!" His hand, which he put out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to himself.

⁵The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.

⁶The king answered the man of God, "Now entreat the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again." The man of God entreated the Lord, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.

⁷The king said to the man of God, "Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward."

⁸The man of God said to the king, "Even if you gave me half of your house, I would not go in with you, neither would I eat bread nor drink water in this place;

⁹for so was it commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, 'You shall eat no bread, nor drink water, neither return by the way that you came.'"

¹⁰So he went another way, and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.

¹¹Now there lived an old prophet in Bethel; and one of his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king.

¹²Their father said to them, "Which way did he go?" Now his sons had seen which way the man of God went, who came from Judah.

¹³He said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it.

¹⁴He went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. He said to him, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?" He said, "I am."

¹⁵Then he said to him, "Come home with me, and eat bread."

¹⁶He said, "I may not return with you, nor go in with you; neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place.

¹⁷For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, 'You shall eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that you came.'"

¹⁸He said to him, "I also am a prophet as you are; and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, 'Bring him back with you into your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.'" He lied to him.

¹⁹So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.

²⁰It happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who brought him back;

²¹and he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, "Thus says the Lord, 'Because you have been disobedient to the mouth of the Lord, and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you,

²²but came back, and have 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 tomb of your fathers.'"

²³It happened, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back.

²⁴When he had gone, a lion met him by the way, and killed him. His body was cast in the way, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the body.

²⁵Behold, men passed by, and saw the body cast in the way, and the lion standing by the body; and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived.

²⁶When the prophet who brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, "It is the man of God who was disobedient to the mouth of the Lord. Therefore the Lord has delivered him to the lion, which has mauled him and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke to him."

²⁷He spoke to his sons, saying, "Saddle the donkey for me." They saddled it.

²⁸He went and found his body cast in the way, and the donkey and the lion standing by the body. The lion had not eaten the body, nor mauled the donkey.

²⁹The prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. 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, "Alas, my brother!"

³¹It happened, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, "When I am dead, then bury me in the tomb in which the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones.

³²For the saying which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely happen."

³³After this thing Jeroboam did not return from his evil way, but again made priests of the high places from among all the people. Whoever wanted to, he consecrated him, that there might be priests of the high places.

³⁴This thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the surface of the earth.

¹Lord, do not rebuke me in your wrath, neither chasten me in your hot displeasure.

²For your arrows have pierced me, your hand presses hard on me.

³There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation, neither is there any health in my bones because of my sin.

⁴For my iniquities have gone over my head. As a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

⁵My wounds are loathsome and corrupt, because of my foolishness.

⁶I am pained and bowed down greatly. I go mourning all day long.

⁷For my waist is filled with burning. There is no soundness in my flesh.

⁸I am faint and severely bruised. I have groaned by reason of the anguish of my heart.

⁹Lord, all my desire is before you. My groaning is not hidden from you.

¹⁰My heart throbs. My strength fails me. As for the light of my eyes, it has also left me.

¹¹My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague. My kinsmen stand far away.

¹²They also who seek after my life lay snares. Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and meditate deceits all day long.

¹³But I, as a deaf man, do not hear. I am as a mute man who doesn't open his mouth.

¹⁴Yes, I am as a man who doesn't hear, in whose mouth are no reproofs.

¹⁵For in you, Lord, do I hope. You will answer, Lord my God.

¹⁶For I said, "Do not let them gloat over me, or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips."

¹⁷For I am ready to fall. My pain is continually before me.

¹⁸For I will declare my iniquity. I will be sorry for my sin.

¹⁹But my enemies are vigorous and many. Those who hate me without reason are numerous.

²⁰They who also render evil for good are adversaries to me, because I follow what is good.

²¹Do not forsake me, Lord. My God, do not be far from me.

²²Hurry to help me, Lord, my salvation.

¹My son, if you will receive my words, and store up my commandments within you;

²So as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;

³Yes, if you call out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding;

⁴If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures:

⁵then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

⁶For the Lord gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

⁷He lays up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity;

⁸that he may guard the paths of justice, and preserve the way of his holy ones.

⁹Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path.

¹⁰For wisdom will enter into your heart. Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

¹¹Discretion will watch over you. Understanding will keep you,

¹²to deliver you from the way of evil, from the men who speak perverse things;

¹³who forsake the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

¹⁴who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of evil;

¹⁵who are crooked in their ways, and wayward in their paths:

¹⁶To deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words;

¹⁷who forsakes the friend of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God:

¹⁸for her house leads down to death, her paths to the dead.

¹⁹None who go to her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life:

²⁰that you may walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.

²¹For the upright will dwell in the land. The perfect will remain in it.

²²But the wicked will be cut off from the land. The treacherous will be rooted out of it.