Common English Bible

1 Kings 11:3-15 Common English Bible (CEB)

3. He had seven hundred royal wives and three hundred secondary wives. They turned his heart.

4. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods. He wasn’t committed to the Lord his God with all his heart as was his father David.

5. Solomon followed Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom the detestable god of the Ammonites.

6. Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes and wasn’t completely devoted to the Lord like his father David.

7. On the hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a shrine to Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and to Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites.

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

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

10. The Lord had commanded Solomon about this very thing, that he shouldn’t follow other gods. But Solomon didn’t do what the Lord commanded.

11. The Lord said to Solomon, "Because you have done all this instead of keeping my covenant and my laws that I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant.

12. Even so, on account of your father David, I won’t do it during your lifetime. I will tear the kingdom out of your son’s hands.

13. Moreover, I won’t tear away the entire kingdom. I will give one tribe to your son on account of my servant David and on account of Jerusalem, which I have chosen."

14. So the Lord raised up an opponent for Solomon: Hadad the Edomite from the royal line of Edom.

15. When David was fighting against Edom, Joab the general had gone up to bury the Israelite dead, and he had killed every male in Edom.