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The Lord punishes King Solomon
11 Solomon loved Pharaoh's daughter and many other foreign women. Those women were Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 The Lord had warned the Israelites about these nations. He said, ‘You must not marry people from these nations. If you do, they will cause you to worship their own gods.’ But Solomon did love these foreign women and he married them.
3 Solomon had 700 royal wives. He also had 300 slave wives.[a] His wives caused him to turn away from the Lord. 4 When Solomon became old, his wives caused him to serve other gods. Solomon no longer completely loved the Lord his God as his father David had done.
5 Solomon worshipped Ashtoreth, the female god of the Sidonian people. He also worshipped Molech, the wicked god of the Ammonite people. 6 As a result, Solomon did things that the Lord said were evil. He did not serve the Lord faithfully as his father David had done. 7 On a hill east of Jerusalem Solomon built a place to worship false gods. He worshipped Chemosh, the wicked god of the Moabite people, and Molech, the wicked god of the Ammonite people. 8 Solomon also built places where his foreign wives could worship their gods. They burned incense and they offered sacrifices to their own gods in these places.
9 So the Lord became angry with Solomon. Solomon had turned away from the Lord, Israel's God, who had appeared to Solomon twice. 10 He had warned Solomon that he must not serve other gods. But Solomon did not obey the Lord's command. 11 So the Lord said to Solomon, ‘I see the things that you have chosen to do. You have not obeyed my covenant and the laws that I commanded you to obey. So I will take the kingdom away from you. One of your servants will rule the kingdom instead of you. 12 But I will not do this while you are alive, because your father David was faithful to me. Instead, I will take the kingdom away from your son. 13 But I will not take away the whole kingdom from him. I will leave one tribe for him to rule as king.[b] I will do this because King David served me faithfully, and because I have chosen Jerusalem as my special city.’
Solomon's enemies
14 The Lord brought an enemy to attack Solomon. He was Hadad who came from Edom.[c] Hadad belonged to the king of Edom's family. 15 When David was king, he had fought against Edom's people. Joab, the leader of David's army, had gone to Edom to bury the dead Israelite soldiers. At that time, Joab killed all the men in Edom.[d] 16 Joab and Israel's army stayed in Edom for six months. During that time, they killed all the men in Edom. 17 Hadad was a small boy at that time. He escaped from Edom with some of his father's officers. They went towards Egypt. 18 They went from Midian as far as Paran. They took some men from Paran and they all went to Egypt. They went to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh gave Hadad a house to live in and food to eat. He also gave Hadad some land. 19 Pharaoh was very pleased with Hadad, so he gave Hadad a wife. She was the sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes. 20 Tahpenes's sister gave birth to Hadad's son, called Genubath. Queen Tahpenes took care of Genubath in the king's palace. Genubath lived there with Pharaoh's own children.
21 While Hadad was living in Egypt, he heard the news that King David had died. Joab, the leader of David's army, was also dead by this time. So Hadad said to Pharaoh, ‘Please let me return to my own country.’ 22 Pharaoh asked him, ‘Why do you want to return to your own country? Is there anything that you do not have here?’ Hadad replied, ‘There is nothing wrong, but please let me go.’
23 God also brought another enemy to attack Solomon. He was Eliada's son Rezon. He had run away from his master, Hadadezer, the king of Zobah. 24 After David had destroyed Hadadezer's army, Rezon became the leader of a group of bad men. Rezon went to Damascus with his men, and Rezon became ruler of the city.[e] 25 Rezon was Israel's enemy all the time that Solomon was alive. He caused trouble for Solomon, as Hadad also did. Rezon ruled in Syria and he hated the Israelite people.
26 Nebat's son Jeroboam was one of Solomon's officers. He came from Zeredah in Ephraim.[f] His mother was a widow. Her name was Zeruah. Jeroboam turned against King Solomon. 27 This is what happened: Solomon had built the Millo. He had also mended the walls of the City of David his father. 28 Jeroboam was a strong young man. Solomon saw that he did his work very well. So he made Jeroboam the leader of the workers who belonged to Joseph's tribe.
29 During that time, Jeroboam travelled out from Jerusalem. A prophet, Ahijah, met him on the road. They were alone in the country. Ahijah came from Shiloh. He was wearing a new coat. 30 Ahijah took off his new coat. He tore it into 12 pieces. 31 Then he said to Jeroboam, ‘Take ten pieces for yourself. This is what the Lord, Israel's God, is saying to you: “I will take Solomon's kingdom away from him! I will give you ten tribes to rule over. 32 But Solomon will continue to rule over one tribe. That is because King David served me faithfully, and because I have chosen Jerusalem as my special city. I did not choose a city in any of the other tribes of Israel.
33 I will take the kingdom away from Solomon because he and his people have turned away from me. They have started to worship Ashtoreth, the female god of the Sidonian people. They also worship Chemosh, the god of the Moabite people, and Molech, the god of the Ammonite people. They have not lived in a way that pleases me. They have not done the things that I say are right. They have not obeyed my rules and my laws. They have not lived in a good way, as Solomon's father David did.
34 But I will not take the whole kingdom away from Solomon. I will let him continue to rule as king while he still lives. I will do that because of my servant David that I chose to be king. David obeyed my commands and my rules. 35 I will take the kingdom away from his son and I will give ten tribes for you to rule. 36 But I will leave one tribe for Solomon's son to rule. Then my servant David will continue to have a descendant who serves me as king in Jerusalem. That is the city where I have chosen for people to worship me.
37 But I will make you, Jeroboam, king of Israel. You will rule over all the land that you want for yourself. 38 But you must do everything that I command you to do. You must live in a way that pleases me. You must do the things that I say are right. You must obey my rules and my commands, as my servant David did. If you do that, I will always be with you. I will cause your descendants to continue to rule Israel. What I have done for David's family, I will also do for your family. The nation of Israel will belong to you.[g] 39 Because of Solomon's sins I will punish David's descendants. But I will not punish them for ever.” ’
40 Solomon then tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam escaped to Egypt. Shishak, the king of Egypt, kept Jeroboam safe. Jeroboam stayed in Egypt until Solomon died.
Solomon dies
41 The other things that happened while Solomon was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Solomon’. It tells about Solomon's wisdom and everything that he did. 42 Solomon ruled over all Israel for 40 years while he lived in Jerusalem. 43 Then he died. They buried him with his ancestors, in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam became king after him.
King Rehoboam
12 Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all the Israelites had gone there to make him king. 2 At this time, Nebat's son Jeroboam was still in Egypt. He had been living there since he ran away from King Solomon. When he heard the news about Rehoboam, he returned home. 3 The Israelites sent a message to Jeroboam to meet with them. Then Jeroboam and the whole group of Israelites went to speak to Rehoboam. They said to him, 4 ‘Your father caused us to work too hard. Please make the work easier for us. If you do that, we will serve you as our king.’ 5 Rehoboam answered them, ‘Go away for three days. Then come back to me.’ So the people went away.
6 Then King Rehoboam went to talk to the older advisors who had served his father Solomon. He asked them, ‘What answer should I give to these people?’ 7 The old men said to him, ‘If you agree to help these people today, they will always serve you as their king. So do what they are asking you to do.’
8 But Rehoboam did not agree with their advice. Instead he talked to some younger men. They had been his friends since they were young and now they were his advisors. 9 He asked them, ‘What do you think that I should say to these people? They want me to make their work easier.’
10 Rehoboam's young advisors said, ‘Those people said to you, “Your father made us work too hard. Please make our work easier.” You should tell them, “Even my little finger is thicker than my father's whole body! 11 My father made you work hard. I will make you work even harder! My father punished you with little whips. I will punish you with whips that bite your skin!” ’
12 Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam after three days. That was because the king had said, ‘Return to me in three days.’
13 King Rehoboam spoke cruel words to the people. He did not agree to say what the older men had told him to say. 14 Instead, he did what the young men had suggested. He said to the people, ‘My father gave you work that was too hard for you. I will make it even worse! My father punished you with little whips. I will punish you with whips that bite!’
15 So the king did not agree to do what the people wanted him to do. It was the Lord who caused this to happen. He had already given his message about this to Nebat's son Jeroboam. The prophet Ahijah who came from Shiloh had spoken the Lord's message to Jeroboam.
16 All the Israelites realized that the king refused to listen to them. So they said to the king,
‘We can no longer serve the family of Jesse's son, David!
Israelites, go back to your homes!
You descendant of David, take care of your own family!’
So the Israelites went to their homes.
17 But Rehoboam continued to rule over the Israelites who lived in the towns of Judah.[h]
18 King Rehoboam sent a man called Adoniram to talk to the Israelite people. Adoniram had authority over the men who had to work for Rehoboam. But the Israelites threw stones at Adoniram and they killed him. So King Rehoboam quickly got into his chariot and he escaped to Jerusalem. 19 Since that time, the tribes in the north of Israel have not accepted the authority of King David's descendants.
Jesus meets with Saul
9 All this time, Saul was still speaking strongly against the disciples of the Lord Jesus. He wanted to kill all the believers. So he went to see the most important priest in Jerusalem. 2 Saul asked him, ‘Please will you write some letters for me?[a] Then I can give one of these letters to the leader of each Jewish group in Damascus.[b] That will give me authority to take hold of any believers that I find there.’
Saul wanted to find anyone who agreed with the Way of the Lord Jesus.[c] Then he would tie them and bring them back to Jerusalem, whether they were men or they were women. 3 He travelled towards Damascus. He was very near the city when a bright light suddenly appeared. The light came from the sky, and it shone all around him. 4 Saul fell down onto the ground. He heard a voice which said to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you fight against me?’
5 Saul asked, ‘Lord, who are you?’ He said, ‘I am Jesus. And you are fighting against me. 6 Now you must get up and go into the city. Someone there will tell you what you must do.’
7 The men who were travelling with Saul stood still. They could not say anything. They could hear that someone was speaking. But they could not see anyone. 8 Saul stood up. He opened his eyes, but he could not see anything. So the men who were with Saul held his hand. They led him into Damascus. 9 For three days, Saul could not see anything. During that time, he did not eat any food or drink anything.
10 There was a believer who lived in Damascus. His name was Ananias. God gave him a message in a vision. The Lord Jesus said to him, ‘Ananias!’ Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I am here.’
11 Jesus said to Ananias, ‘Prepare yourself and go to Straight Street. A man called Judas lives on that street. Go to his house. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus who is called Saul. He is praying to God. 12 He has had a message from God in a vision. In his vision, he saw a man who is called Ananias come to him. He saw you put your hands on him so that he could see again.’
13 Ananias replied, ‘Lord, many people have told me about this man. He has done very bad things to your own people, the believers in Jerusalem. 14 Now he has come here to Damascus, and he has brought letters with him from the leaders of the priests. They have given him authority, so that he will take hold of everyone who believes in you. He will tie them and put them in prison.’
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, ‘Go now to Saul! I have chosen him to work for me. He will go to those who are not Jews and to their rulers. He will tell them about me. He will also tell the people of Israel about me. 16 I myself will tell him about the many troubles that he will have. He will have much pain on my behalf.’
17 So Ananias went to Judas's house and he went inside. He put his hands on Saul and he said to him, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus himself has sent me here to you.[d] It was Jesus that you saw on the road when you were coming here to Damascus. He has sent me to you so that you will be able to see again. God will also fill you with his Holy Spirit.’
18 When Ananias said that, immediately something like bits of fish skin fell from Saul's eyes. Then Saul could see again. So he stood up and Ananias baptized him. 19 Then Saul ate some food and he became strong again.
Saul teaches people about Jesus
Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days. 20 He immediately went to the Jewish meeting places and he taught people about Jesus. He told them that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All the people who heard what Saul said were very surprised. They said to each other, ‘This is the same man who caused much pain to the believers in Jerusalem. We are sure it is him! Now he has come here to Damascus to take hold of the believers and take them away to Jerusalem. He wants to make them stand in front of the leaders of the priests.’
22 But Saul became even more powerful when he taught the people. He showed very clearly that Jesus is God's Messiah. So the Jews who lived there in Damascus could not answer him.
23 After many days, the Jews met together. They decided that they would kill Saul. 24 But someone told Saul about this. The Jews carefully watched the gates of the city all day and all night. They wanted to catch Saul and to kill him. 25 But one night, Saul's friends helped him to leave the city secretly. They put him in a basket. Then they put him through a hole in the city wall. Then they let the basket go slowly down to the ground outside the city.[e]
A song to sing as we climb.
David wrote this song.
131 Lord, I am not proud.
I do not think that I am a great person.
I do not try to do great things.
I do not worry about things that are too hard for me to understand.
2 Instead, I am quiet
and there is peace in my mind.
I am like a young child who sits on his mother's knee.
Yes, I have peace in my mind.
3 Israel's people, trust the Lord to help you,
now and for ever.
4 People who do evil things listen to evil advice.
People who tell lies listen to other people's lies.
5 If you laugh at poor people,
you are insulting God, who made them.
If you are happy when trouble happens to other people,
you will receive the punishment that you deserve.
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