1 Kings 10

• 1. When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's reputation, which brought honor to the name of the LORD, she came to test him with hard questions.
• 2. She arrived in Jerusalem with a large group of attendants and a great caravan of camels loaded with spices, huge quantities of gold, and precious jewels. When she met with Solomon, they talked about everything she had on her mind.
• 3. Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her.
• 4. When the queen of Sheba realized how wise Solomon was, and when she saw the palace he had built,
• 5. she was breathless. She was also amazed at the food on his tables, the organization of his officials and their splendid clothing, the cup-bearers and their robes, and the burnt offerings Solomon made at the Temple of the LORD.
• 6. She exclaimed to the king, "Everything I heard in my country about your achievements and wisdom is true!
• 7. I didn't believe it until I arrived here and saw it with my own eyes. Truly I had not heard the half of it! Your wisdom and prosperity are far greater than what I was told.
• 8. How happy these people must be! What a privilege for your officials to stand here day after day, listening to your wisdom!
• 9. The LORD your God is great indeed! He delights in you and has placed you on the throne of Israel. Because the LORD loves Israel with an eternal love, he has made you king so you can rule with justice and righteousness."
• 10. Then she gave the king a gift of nine thousand pounds of gold, and great quantities of spices and precious jewels. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to Solomon.
• 11. (When Hiram's ships brought gold from Ophir, they also brought rich cargoes of almug wood and precious jewels.
• 12. The king used the almug wood to make railings for the Temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and to construct harps and lyres for the musicians. Never before or since has there been such a supply of beautiful almug wood.)
• 13. King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba whatever she asked for, besides all the other customary gifts he had so generously given. Then she and all her attendants left and returned to their own land.
• 14. Each year Solomon received about twenty-five tons of gold.
• 15. This did not include the additional revenue he received from merchants and traders, all the kings of Arabia, and the governors of the land.
• 16. King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold, each containing over fifteen pounds of gold.
• 17. He also made three hundred smaller shields of hammered gold, each containing nearly four pounds of gold. The king placed these shields in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
• 18. Then the king made a huge ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold.
• 19. The throne had six steps and a rounded back. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with the figure of a lion standing on each side of the throne.
• 20. Solomon made twelve other lion figures, one standing on each end of each of the six steps. No other throne in all the world could be compared with it!
• 21. All of King Solomon's drinking cups were solid gold, as were all the utensils in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. They were not made of silver because silver was considered of little value in Solomon's day!
• 22. The king had a fleet of trading ships that sailed with Hiram's fleet. Once every three years the ships returned, loaded down with gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
• 23. So King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king in all the earth.
• 24. People from every nation came to visit him and to hear the wisdom God had given him.
• 25. Year after year, everyone who came to visit brought him gifts of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.
• 26. Solomon built up a huge force of chariots and horses. He had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses. He stationed many of them in the chariot cities, and some near him in Jerusalem.
• 27. The king made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones. And valuable cedarwood was as common as the sycamore wood that grows in the foothills of Judah.
• 28. Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt and from Cilicia; the king's traders acquired them from Cilicia at the standard price.
• 29. At that time, Egyptian chariots delivered to Jerusalem could be purchased for 600 pieces of silver, and horses could be bought for 150 pieces of silver. Many of these were then resold to the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

1 Kings 11

• 1. Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh's daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites.
• 2. The LORD had clearly instructed his people not to intermarry with those nations, because the women they married would lead them to worship their gods. Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway.
• 3. He had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. And sure enough, they led his heart away from the LORD.
• 4. In Solomon's old age, they turned his heart to worship their gods instead of trusting only in the LORD his God, as his father, David, had done.
• 5. Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites.
• 6. Thus, Solomon did what was evil in the LORD's sight; he refused to follow the LORD completely, as his father, David, had done.
• 7. On the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, he even built a shrine for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, and another for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites.
• 8. Solomon built such shrines for all his foreign wives to use for burning incense and sacrificing to their gods.
• 9. The LORD was very angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.
• 10. He had warned Solomon specifically about worshiping other gods, but Solomon did not listen to the LORD's command.
• 11. So now the LORD said to him, "Since you have not kept my covenant and have disobeyed my laws, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants.
• 12. But for the sake of your father, David, I will not do this while you are still alive. I will take the kingdom away from your son.
• 13. And even so, I will let him be king of one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, my chosen city."
• 14. Then the LORD raised up Hadad the Edomite, a member of Edom's royal family, to be an enemy against Solomon.
• 15. Years before, David had gone to Edom with Joab, his army commander, to bury some Israelites who had died in battle. While there, the Israelite army had killed nearly every male in Edom.
• 16. Joab and the army had stayed there for six months, killing them.
• 17. But Hadad and a few of his father's royal officials had fled. (Hadad was a very small child at the time.)
• 18. They escaped from Midian and went to Paran, where others joined them. Then they traveled to Egypt and went to Pharaoh, who gave them a home, food, and some land.
• 19. Pharaoh grew very fond of Hadad, and he gave him a wife--the sister of Queen Tahpenes.
• 20. She bore him a son, Genubath, who was brought up in Pharaoh's palace among Pharaoh's own sons.
• 21. When the news reached Hadad in Egypt that David and his commander Joab were both dead, he said to Pharaoh, "Let me return to my own country."
• 22. "Why?" Pharaoh asked him. "What do you lack here? How have we disappointed you that you want to go home?Nothing is wrong," he replied. "But even so, I must return home."
• 23. God also raised up Rezon son of Eliada to be an enemy against Solomon. Rezon had fled from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah,
• 24. and had become the leader of a gang of rebels. After David conquered Hadadezer, Rezon and his men fled to Damascus, where he became king.
• 25. Rezon was Israel's bitter enemy for the rest of Solomon's reign, and he made trouble, just as Hadad did. Rezon hated Israel intensely and continued to reign in Aram.
• 26. Another rebel leader was Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of Solomon's own officials. He came from the city of Zeredah in Ephraim, and his mother was Zeruah, a widow.
• 27. This is the story behind his rebellion. Solomon was rebuilding the Millo and repairing the walls of the city of his father, David.
• 28. Jeroboam was a very capable young man, and when Solomon saw how industrious he was, he put him in charge of the labor force from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.
• 29. One day as Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him on the road, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone in a field,
• 30. and Ahijah took the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.
• 31. Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take ten of these pieces, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: `I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and I will give ten of the tribes to you!
• 32. But I will leave him one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.
• 33. For Solomon has abandoned me and worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians; Chemosh, the god of Moab; and Molech, the god of the Ammonites. He has not followed my ways and done what is pleasing in my sight. He has not obeyed my laws and regulations as his father, David, did.
• 34. " `But I will not take the entire kingdom from Solomon at this time. For the sake of my servant David, the one whom I chose and who obeyed my commands and laws, I will let Solomon reign for the rest of his life.
• 35. But I will take the kingdom away from his son and give ten of the tribes to you.
• 36. His son will have one tribe so that the descendants of David my servant will continue to reign in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen to be the place for my name.
• 37. And I will place you on the throne of Israel, and you will rule over all that your heart desires.
• 38. If you listen to what I tell you and follow my ways and do whatever I consider to be right, and if you obey my laws and commands, as my servant David did, then I will always be with you. I will establish an enduring dynasty for you as I did for David, and I will give Israel to you.
• 39. But I will punish the descendants of David because of Solomon's sin--though not forever.'"
• 40. Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but he fled to King Shishak of Egypt and stayed there until Solomon died.
• 41. The rest of the events in Solomon's reign, including his wisdom, are recorded in The Book of the Acts of Solomon.
• 42. Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years.
• 43. When Solomon died, he was buried in the city of his father, David. Then his son Rehoboam became the next king.

1 Kings 12

• 1. Rehoboam went to Shechem, where all Israel had gathered to make him king.
• 2. When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard of Solomon's death, he returned from Egypt, for he had fled to Egypt to escape from King Solomon.
• 3. The leaders of Israel sent for Jeroboam, and the whole assembly of Israel went to speak with Rehoboam.
• 4. "Your father was a hard master," they said. "Lighten the harsh labor demands and heavy taxes that your father imposed on us. Then we will be your loyal subjects."
• 5. Rehoboam replied, "Give me three days to think this over. Then come back for my answer." So the people went away.
• 6. Then King Rehoboam went to discuss the matter with the older men who had counseled his father, Solomon. "What is your advice?" he asked. "How should I answer these people?"
• 7. The older counselors replied, "If you are willing to serve the people today and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your loyal subjects."
• 8. But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders and instead asked the opinion of the young men who had grown up with him and who were now his advisers.
• 9. "What is your advice?" he asked them. "How should I answer these people who want me to lighten the burdens imposed by my father?"
• 10. The young men replied, "This is what you should tell those complainers: `My little finger is thicker than my father's waist--if you think he was hard on you, just wait and see what I'll be like!
• 11. Yes, my father was harsh on you, but I'll be even harsher! My father used whips on you, but I'll use scorpions!'"
• 12. Three days later, Jeroboam and all the people returned to hear Rehoboam's decision, just as the king had requested.
• 13. But Rehoboam spoke harshly to them, for he rejected the advice of the older counselors
• 14. and followed the counsel of his younger advisers. He told the people, "My father was harsh on you, but I'll be even harsher! My father used whips on you, but I'll use scorpions!"
• 15. So the king paid no attention to the people's demands. This turn of events was the will of the LORD, for it fulfilled the LORD's message to Jeroboam son of Nebat through the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh.
• 16. When all Israel realized that the king had rejected their request, they shouted, "Down with David and his dynasty! We have no share in Jesse's son! Let's go home, Israel! Look out for your own house, O David!" So the people of Israel returned home.
• 17. But Rehoboam continued to rule over the Israelites who lived in the towns of Judah.
• 18. King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was in charge of the labor force, to restore order, but all Israel stoned him to death. When this news reached King Rehoboam, he quickly jumped into his chariot and fled to Jerusalem.
• 19. The northern tribes of Israel have refused to be ruled by a descendant of David to this day.
• 20. When the people of Israel learned of Jeroboam's return from Egypt, they called an assembly and made him king over all Israel. So only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the family of David.
• 21. When Rehoboam arrived at Jerusalem, he mobilized the armies of Judah and Benjamin--180,000 select troops--to fight against the army of Israel and to restore the kingdom to himself.
• 22. But God said to Shemaiah, the man of God,
• 23. "Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the people of Judah and Benjamin,
• 24. `This is what the LORD says: Do not fight against your relatives, the Israelites. Go back home, for what has happened is my doing!'" So they obeyed the message of the LORD and went home, as the LORD had commanded.
• 25. Jeroboam then built up the city of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and it became his capital. Later he went and built up the town of Peniel.
• 26. Jeroboam thought to himself, "Unless I am careful, the kingdom will return to the dynasty of David.
• 27. When they go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at the Temple of the LORD, they will again give their allegiance to King Rehoboam of Judah. They will kill me and make him their king instead."
• 28. So on the advice of his counselors, the king made two gold calves. He said to the people, "It is too much trouble for you to worship in Jerusalem. O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of Egypt!"
• 29. He placed these calf idols at the southern and northern ends of Israel--in Bethel and in Dan.
• 30. This became a great sin, for the people worshiped them, traveling even as far as Dan.
• 31. Jeroboam built shrines at the pagan high places and ordained priests from the rank and file of the people--those who were not from the priestly tribe of Levi.
• 32. Jeroboam also instituted a religious festival in Bethel, held on a day in midautumn, similar to the annual Festival of Shelters in Judah. There at Bethel he himself offered sacrifices to the calves he had made. And it was at Bethel that he appointed priests for the pagan shrines he had made.
• 33. So on the appointed day in midautumn, a day that he himself had designated, Jeroboam offered sacrifices on the altar at Bethel. He instituted a religious festival for Israel, and he went up to the altar to burn incense.

New Living Translation: 104 of 324 days.