I Kings 11

¹Forsothe kyng Salomon louyde brennyngli many alien wymmen, and the douytir of Pharao, and wymmen of Moab, and Amonytis, and Ydumeis, and Sydoneis, and Etheis;

²of the folkis of whiche the Lord seide to the sones of Israel, Ye schulen not entre to tho folkis, nether ony of hem schulen entre to you; for most certeynli thei schulen turne awei youre hertis, that ye sue the goddis of hem. Therfor kyng Salomon was couplid to these wymmen, bi moost brennyng loue.

³And wyues as queenys weren seuene hundrid to hym, and thre hundrid secundarie wyues; and the wymmen turneden awey his herte.

⁴And whanne he was thanne eld, his herte was bischrewid bi wymmen, that he suede alien goddis; and his herte was not perfit with his Lord God, as the herte of Dauid, his fadir, `was perfit.

⁵But Salomon worschipide Astartes, the goddesse of Sidoneis, and Chamos, the god of Moabitis, and Moloch, the idol of Amonytis;

⁶and Salomon dide that, that pleside not bifor the Lord, and he fillide not that he suede the Lord, as Dauid, his fadir, dide.

⁷Thanne Salomon bildide a temple to Chamos, the idol of Moab, in the hil which is ayens Jerusalem, and to Moloch, the idol of the sones of Amon.

⁸And bi this maner he dide to alle hise alien wyues, that brenten encencis, and offriden to her goddis.

⁹Therfor the Lord was wrooth to Salomon, for his soule was turned awei fro the Lord God of Israel; that apperide to Salomon the secounde tyme,

¹⁰and comaundide of this word, that he schulde not sue alien goddis; and he kepte not tho thingis, whiche the Lord comaundide to hym.

¹¹Therfor the Lord seide to Salomon, For thou haddist this thing anentis thee, and keptist not my couenaunt, and myn heestis, whiche Y comaundide to thee, Y schal breke, and Y schal departe thi rewme, and Y schal yyue it to thi seruaunt.

¹²Netheles Y schal not do in thi daies, for Dauid, thi fadir; Y schal kitte it fro the hond of thi sone;

¹³nether Y schal do a wey al the rewme, but Y schal yyue o lynage to thi sone, for Dauid, my seruaunt, and for Jerusalem, which Y chess.

¹⁴Forsothe the Lord reiside to Solomon an aduersarie, Adad Ydumey, of the kyngis seed, that was in Edom.

¹⁵For whanne Dauid was in Ydumee, and Joab, the prince of chyualrie, hadde stied to birie hem that weren slayn, and he hadde slayn ech male kynde in Ydumee;

¹⁶for Joab, and al Israel dwelliden there bi sixe monethis, til thei killiden ech male kynde in Ydumee; Adad hym silf fledde,

¹⁷and men of Ydumee, of `the seruauntis of his fadir, with hym, that he schulde entre in to Egipt; sotheli Adad was a litil child.

¹⁸And whanne thei hadden rise fro Madian, thei camen in to Faran; and thei token with hem men of Faran, and entriden in to Egipt, to Pharao, kyng of Egipt; which Farao yaf an hows to hym, and ordeynede metis, and assignede lond.

¹⁹And Adad foond grace bifor Farao greetli, in so myche that Farao yaf to hym a wijf, the sister of his wijf, sister of the queen, of Taphnes.

²⁰And the sistir of Taphnes gendrid to hym a sone, Genebath; and Taphnes nurschide hym in the hows of Farao; and Genebath dwellide bifor Farao, with hise sones.

²¹And whanne Adad hadde herd in Egipt, that Dauid slepte with hise fadris, and that Joab, the prince of chyualrie, was deed, he seide to Farao, Suffre thou me, that Y go in to my lond.

²²And Farao seide to hym, For of what thing hast thou nede at me, that thou sekist to go to thi lond? And he answeride, Of no thing; but Y biseche thee, that thou `delyuere me.

²³Also God reiside an aduersarie to Salomon, Rason, sone of Eliadam, that fledde Adadezer, kyng of Soba, his lord;

²⁴and gaderide men ayens hym, and was maad the prince of theuys, whanne Dauid killide hem; and thei yeden to Damask, and dwelliden there; and thei maden hym kyng in Damask.

²⁵And he was aduersarie of Israel in alle the daies of Salomon; and this is the yuel of Adad, and the hatrede ayens Israel; and he regnede in Sirie.

²⁶Also Jeroboam, sone of Nabath, of Effraym of Saredera, the seruaunt of Salomon, of which Jeroboam, a womman widewe, Serua bi name, was modir, reisyde hond ayens the kyng.

²⁷And this was cause of rebelte ayens the kyng; for Salomon bildide Mello, and made euene the swolowe of the citee of Dauid, his fadir.

²⁸Forsothe Jeroboam was a miyti man and strong; and Salomon siy the yong wexynge man of good kynrede, and witti in thingis to be doon, and Salomon made hym `prefect, ether souereyn, on the tributis of al the hows of Joseph.

²⁹Therfor it was doon in that tyme, that Jeroboam yede out of Jerusalem; and Ahias of Sylo, a profete, hilid with a newe mentil, foond hym in the weie; sotheli thei tweyne weren oneli in the feeld.

³⁰And Ahias took his newe mentil, with which he was hilid, and kittide in to twelue partis;

³¹and seide to Jeroboam, Take to thee ten kyttyngis; for the Lord God of Israel seith these thingis, Lo! Y schal kytte the rewme fro the hond of Salomon, and Y schal yyue to thee ten lynagis;

³²forsothe o lynage schal dwelle to hym, for Dauid, my seruaunt, and for Jerusalem, the citee which Y chees of alle the lynagis of Israel;

³³this kittyng schal be; for Salomon forsook me, and worschipide Astartes, goddesse of Sidoneis, and Chamos, the god of Moab, and Moloch, the god of the sones of Amon; and yede not in my weies, that he dide riytwisnesse bifor me, and myn heestis, and my domes, as Dauid, his fadir, dide.

³⁴And Y schal not take awey al the rewme fro `his hond, but Y schal putte hym duyk in alle the daies of his lijf, for Dauid, my seruaunt, whom Y chees, which Dauid kepte myn heestis, and my comaundementis.

³⁵Sotheli Y schal take awey the rewme fro the hond of `his sone, and Y schal yyue ten lynagis to thee;

³⁶forsothe Y schal yyue o lynage to `his sone, that a lanterne dwelle to Dauid, my seruaunt, in alle daies bifor me in Jerusalem, the citee which Y chees, that my name schulde be there.

³⁷Forsothe Y schal take thee, and thou schalt regne on alle thingis whiche thi soule desirith, and thou schalt be kyng on Israel.

³⁸Therfor if thou schalt here alle thingis whiche Y schal comaunde to thee, and if thou schalt go in my weies, and if thou schalt do that, that is riytful bifore me, and if thou schalt kepe my comaundementis, and myn heestis, as Dauid, my seruaunt, dide, Y schal be with thee, and Y schal bilde a feithful hows to thee, as Y bildide an hows to Dauid, and Y schal yyue Israel to thee;

³⁹and Y schal turmente the seed of Dauid on this thing, netheles not in alle daies.

⁴⁰Therfor Salomon wolde sle Jeroboam, which roos, and fledde in to Egipt, to Susach, kyng of Egipt; and he was in Egipt `til to the deeth of Salomon.

⁴¹Forsothe the residue of the wordis of Salomon, and alle thingis whiche he dide, and his wisdom, lo! alle thingis ben writun in the book of wordis of daies of Salomon.

⁴²Sotheli the daies bi whiche Salomon regnede in Jerusalem on al Israel, ben fourti yeer.

⁴³And Salomon slepte with hise fadris, and was biriede in the citee of Dauid, his fadir; and Roboam, his sone, regnede for hym.

I Kings 11

¹But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;

²Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.

³And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.

⁴For it came to pass, 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 Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

⁶And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father.

⁷Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.

⁸And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.

⁹And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,

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

¹¹Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.

¹²Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father’s sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.

¹³Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen.

¹⁴And the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king’s seed in Edom.

¹⁵For it came to pass, when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain, after he had smitten every male in Edom;

¹⁶(For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, 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.

¹⁸And they arose out of Midian, and came to Paran: and they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, unto Pharaoh king of Egypt; which gave him an house, and appointed him victuals, and gave him land.

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

²⁰And the sister of Tahpenes bare him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house: and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s household among the sons of Pharaoh.

²¹And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go to mine own country.

²²Then Pharaoh said unto him, But what hast thou lacked with me, that, behold, thou seekest to go to thine own country? And he answered, Nothing: howbeit let me go in any wise.

²³And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah:

²⁴And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a band, when David slew them of Zobah: and they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus.

²⁵And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadad did: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.

²⁶And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king.

²⁷And this was the cause that he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breaches of the city of David his father.

²⁸And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph.

²⁹And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field:

³⁰And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces:

³¹And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:

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 worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.

³⁴Howbeit 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, because he kept my commandments and my statutes:

³⁵But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand, and will give it unto thee, even ten tribes.

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

³⁷And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.

³⁸And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.

³⁹And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever.

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

⁴¹And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?

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

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