1 Kings 10-12

New Catholic Bible

Chapter 10

The Queen of Sheba’s Visit.^{[a] 1} When the Queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s reputation, she came to test him with difficult questions.^{[b] 2} She came to Jerusalem with a very large caravan, with camels carrying spices and large quantities of gold and precious stones. When she arrived upon her visit to Solomon, she told him everything that was on her mind. ³ Solomon answered all of her questions. There were no hidden things that Solomon could not tell her.

⁴ When the Queen of Sheba saw all of Solomon’s wisdom, the palace that he had built, ⁵ the food on his table, the assembly of his servants, the attendance of his ministers in their robes and their cupbearers, and the way that he went up into the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed. ⁶ She said to the king, “The report that I heard in my own land concerning your actions and your wisdom are true. ⁷ However, I could not believe the report until I had come and seen it with my own eyes. They did not tell me the half of it. Your wisdom and your wealth exceed the report that I heard. ⁸ Happy are your men and happy are these, your servants, who always stand before you and hear your wisdom. ⁹ Blessed be the Lord, your God, who delights in you, placing you upon the throne of Israel. The Lord of Israel has established you as king to exercise justice and righteousness because he has loved you forever.”

¹⁰ She then gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, great quantities of spices, and precious stones. A more abundant quantity of spices never arrived than that which the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹¹ Furthermore, the ships of Hiram that had brought the gold from Ophir also brought large quantities of almug wood and precious stones from Ophir. ¹² The king made steps of almug wood for the temple of the Lord and for the king’s palace as well as harps and stringed instruments for accompanying singers. Almug wood such as this has not arrived or been seen up to the present day.

¹³ King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba whatever she desired. He gave her whatever she asked for in addition to what King Solomon had already given her. She then returned, going to her own country along with her servants.

¹⁴ Solomon’s Wealth.^[c]The weight of the gold that Solomon would receive in a year was six hundred, sixty-six talents ¹⁵ in addition to what he received from merchants and the profits from trade, as well as from the Arabian kings and the governors of the land.

¹⁶ King Solomon made two hundred shields from beaten gold. Each of the shields contained six hundred shekels of gold. ¹⁷ He also made three hundred shields from beaten gold. Three minas of gold went into each shield. The king placed them in the palace built with the wood of Lebanon. ¹⁸ The king also made an ivory throne and had it overlaid with fine gold. ¹⁹ The throne had six steps, and the back of the throne had a rounded top. On either side of the seat there were armrests, and there was a lion standing alongside each of the armrests. ²⁰ There were twelve lions standing upon the six steps, with one on each side of the step. Nothing like this had ever been made in any other kingdom.

²¹ All of King Solomon’s goblets were made of gold, and all of the other utensils in the palace made from Lebanon wood were also made from the finest gold. Nothing was made from silver, for it was not considered to be worth anything in Solomon’s time.

²² The king also had ships of Tarshish at sea along with Hiram’s ships. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish would return, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and baboons with them. ²³ King Solomon was greater in wealth and wisdom than all of the other kings on the earth.

²⁴ Solomon’s Acclaim. Everyone on the earth sought to visit Solomon to listen to his wisdom which God had placed in his heart. ²⁵ Year after year, everyone brought him presents of things made from silver, things made from gold, garments, armor, spices, horses, and donkeys.

²⁶ Solomon’s Chariots and Horses. Solomon collected chariots and horsemen. He had one thousand, four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. He stationed them in cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

²⁷ The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem. Cedar became as common as the sycamore that abounds in the Shephelah.^{[d] 28} Solomon brought horses from Egypt and Cilicia. The king’s merchants bought them in Cilicia. ²⁹ They imported chariots from Egypt that cost six hundred silver shekels and horses that cost one hundred and fifty. They also exported them to all of the Hittite and Aramean kings.

Chapter 11

Solomon’s Wives and Idolatry.^{[e] 1} But King Solomon loved many foreign wives. In addition to Pharaoh’s daughter, there were Moabite women, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. ² These were from the nations about which the Lord had said to the Israelites, “You are not to go to them, nor are they to come to you, for they will surely turn your heart away to follow their gods.” Solomon clung to them in love. ³ He had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, and his wives perverted his heart.

⁴ When Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart to serve other gods. His heart did not rest in peace with the Lord, his God, as the heart of David, his father, had. ⁵ He followed Ashtaroth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Moloch, the abomination of the Ammonites. ⁶ Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not follow after the Lord completely as his father David had. ⁷ Solomon built a high place to Chemosh, the abomination of the Moabites, and to Moloch, the abomination of the Ammonites, on a hillside that lies to the east of Jerusalem. ⁸ He did the same thing for all of his foreign wives. He burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

^9 [f]The Lord therefore became angry with Solomon for he had turned his heart away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, ¹⁰ and who had given him a command concerning this very thing, that he not follow after other gods, but he did not observe what the Lord had commanded. ¹¹ Therefore, the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this and you have not observed my covenant and my statutes that I had given to you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.

¹² “Nevertheless, I will not do this during your days, for the sake of David, your father. I will tear it out of the hands of your son. ¹³ I will not tear the entire kingdom away. I will give your son one tribe for the sake of David, my servant, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”

¹⁴ Solomon’s Adversaries. The Lord raised up an adversary to Solomon: Hadad, the Edomite, who was a descendant of the kings in Edom. ¹⁵ When David had been in Edom, and Joab, the commander of the army, had gone up to bury those who had been killed, for every male had been killed in Edom ¹⁶ (for Joab and all of Israel had remained there for six months until they had killed every male in Edom), ¹⁷ Hadad had fled into Egypt along with certain Edomites who had been his father’s servants. Hadad was only a little child. ¹⁸ They came up out of Midian to Paran, and they took men with them from Paran and went to Egypt, to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, who gave him a house and provided him with provisions and gave him some land.

¹⁹ Pharaoh liked Hadad so much that he gave him the sister of his own wife to marry, the sister of Queen Tahpenes. ²⁰ The sister of Tahpenes bore him a son named Genubath. Tahpenes raised him in Pharaoh’s household. Genubath belonged to Pharaoh’s household, as if he were one of Pharaoh’s sons.

²¹ While he was in Egypt, he heard that David was now sleeping with his fathers and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead. Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me leave so that I might return to my own land.” ²² Pharaoh said to him, “What have you ever been without that you seek to return to your own land?” He answered, “Nothing, but let me go anyway.”

²³ God also stirred up another adversary against him, Rezon, the son of Eliada. He had fled from his lord, Hadadezer, the king of Zobah. ²⁴ He gathered some men to himself and became the leader of a band of them when David conquered the forces of Zobah. They traveled to Damascus and dwelt there, reigning in Damascus. ²⁵ He was an adversary of Israel all through Solomon’s time, adding to the difficulties caused by Hadad. He ruled in Aram and despised Israel.

²⁶ Jeroboam’s Kingship Predicted. There was a certain Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who was an Ephraimite from Zeredah. His mother was a widow whose name was Zeruah. He rebelled against the king. ²⁷ This is how he rebelled against the king: Solomon built Millo and repaired the breaches in the wall of the City of David, his father. ²⁸ Jeroboam was an impressive man, and when Solomon saw that the young man was capable, he placed him in charge of the whole component of forced labor of the house of Joseph.

^29 [g]When Jeroboam went out from Jerusalem, he was met along the way by Ahijah, the Shilonite, who was a prophet. He was wearing a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the field. ³⁰ Ahijah grabbed the new garment that he was wearing and he tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹ He then said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hands of Solomon and I will give you ten tribes. ³² One tribe will remain for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen from out of the tribes of Israel.

³³ “ ‘This is because he has abandoned me and he has worshiped Ashtaroth, the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, and Moloch, the god of the Ammonites. He has not walked in my paths, doing what was right in my sight by observing my statutes and ordinances as David, his father, did. ³⁴ But I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hands. I will keep him as ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David, my servant, whom I chose, for he observed my commandments and my statutes, ³⁵ but I will take it out of his son’s hands. I will then give you ten of the tribes. ³⁶ I will give one tribe to his son so that David, my servant, might have a light before me always in Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen for my name.

³⁷ “ ‘I will take you, and you will reign over all that your heart desires. You will be the king over Israel. ³⁸ If you listen to all that I have commanded you and you walk in my ways and you do what is right in my sight, observing my statutes and my commandments, as David, my servant, did, then I will be with you and I will build a secure dynasty for you just as I built one for David. I will give you Israel. ³⁹ I will humble the descendants of David because of this, but not forever.’ ”

⁴⁰ Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, so Jeroboam rose and fled into Egypt, to Shishak, the king of Egypt. He stayed in Egypt until Solomon had died.

⁴¹ Solomon’s Death. As for the rest of Solomon’s deeds and the wisdom that he demonstrated, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? ⁴² Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all of Israel for forty years. ⁴³ Solomon then slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the City of David, his father. Rehoboam, his son, then ruled in his stead.

The Reign of Jeroboam^[h][i]

Chapter 12

Revolt against Rehoboam. ¹ Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all of Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. ² When Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, heard about this in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon, he returned from Egypt.

³ They sent for Jeroboam, and when he arrived, he and the whole assembly of Israel spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ “Your father made our yoke heavy. If you make our service and our heavy yoke lighter than the heavy load your father laid on us, then we will serve you.” ⁵ Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days, and then come back to me.” So the people departed.

⁶ King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had stood before Solomon, his father, during his lifetime. He said, “How do you advise me to answer this people, so that I can give them an answer?” ⁷ They answered him, “If you become a servant to this people today and you serve them and you give them a favorable answer, then they will be your servants forever.”

⁸ But he ignored the advice that the elders had given him, and instead, he consulted with the young men who had grown up with him and who stood before him. ⁹ He asked them, “What advice do you give me so that we can give an answer to this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Make the yoke lighter than that which your father laid upon us?’ ”

¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him answered, “Say the following to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy; will you lighten it for us?’ Say this to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist! ¹¹ My father laid a heavy yoke on you, but I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.’ ”

¹² Three days later Jeroboam and all of the people returned to Rehoboam as the king had decreed when he said, “Come back to me in three days.” ¹³ The king responded harshly to the people. He ignored the counsel that the elders had given him. ¹⁴ He said to them what the young men had advised him saying, “My father laid a heavy yoke on you, but I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.”

¹⁵ Thus the king would not listen to the people, for the Lord had brought this about to fulfill what he said when the Lord spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. ¹⁶ When all of Israel realized that the king would not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What share do we have in David? What inheritance do we have in the son of Jesse? To your own tents, O Israel. Look after your own house, O David.” So the people of Israel returned to their homes.^[j]

¹⁷ Rehoboam still ruled over those Israelites who were living in the cities of Judah. ¹⁸ King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram who was in charge of the forced labor, but all of Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, mounted his chariot and fled to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David up to the present day.

²⁰ When all of Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and summoned him to an assembly. They made him king over all of Israel. No one followed the house of David except for the tribe of Judah.

²¹ When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he assembled the entire house of Judah along with the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand fighting men to battle against the house of Israel and to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. ²² But the word of God came to Shemaiah, the man of God, saying, ²³ “Speak to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, the king of Judah, and to all of the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying, ²⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord, You are not to go up or fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Let each man return home, for this thing is from me.’ ” They obeyed the word of the Lord, and they turned around and left, as the Lord had instructed.

²⁵ Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and he dwelt there. He went out from there and built Penuel.

²⁶ Jeroboam’s Idolatry. Jeroboam said to himself, “The kingdom is going to return to the house of David. ²⁷ If this people goes up to sacrifice in the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, the heart of this people will return to their lord, to Rehoboam, the king of Judah. They will kill me and they will return to Rehoboam, the king of Judah.”

²⁸ The king sought counsel, and so he made two golden calves.^[k] He said to them, “It is too difficult for you to go up to Jerusalem. Behold, your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” ²⁹ He placed one in Bethel, and he placed the other in Dan.^{[l] 30} This thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before one of them, even to Dan.

³¹ He built shrines upon the high places, and he appointed priests from the lowliest of people who were not Levites.

³² He established a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the one that was celebrated in Judah, and he offered sacrifices upon the altar. He did this in Bethel, offering sacrifices to the calves that he had made. In Bethel he also appointed priests for the high places that he had made.

³³ And so he established a festival for the Israelites on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a date of his own choosing, and he offered up a sacrifice on the altar he had built in Bethel. He offered up a sacrifice and burned incense on the altar.