1 Kings 11: Solomon’s Sins and God’s Judgement – Clear & Engaging Audio Bible Reading | Idolatry, Divine Warning, and Division of the Kingdom

Listen to this clear and engaging audio recording of 1 Kings 11 to experience the events of Solomon’s downfall. Learn about his idolatry, how God warned him and his subsequent disobedience, resulting in the division of the kingdom. Perfect for study or reflection, immerse yourself in this powerful chapter and let the Scriptures come alive.

1 KINGS 11 (NIV)

1 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s
daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites.

2 They were
from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not
intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their
gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.

3 He had seven hundred
wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him
astray.

4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods,
and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David
his father had been.

5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and
Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites.

6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes
of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had
done.

7 On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the
detestable god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites.

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

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

10 Although he had
forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s
command.

11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you
have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most
certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your
subordinates.

12 Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not
do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son.

13 Yet
I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for
the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have
chosen.”

14 Then the Lord raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite,
from the royal line of Edom.

15 Earlier when David was fighting with Edom,
Joab the commander of the army, who had gone up to bury the dead, had struck
down all the men in Edom.

16 Joab and all the Israelites stayed there for six
months, until they had destroyed all the men in Edom.

17 But Hadad, still only
a boy, fled to Egypt with some Edomite officials who had served his father.

18
They set out from Midian and went to Paran. Then taking people from Paran with
them, they went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house and
land and provided him with food.

19 Pharaoh was so pleased with Hadad that he gave him a sister of his own
wife, Queen Tahpenes, in marriage.

20 The sister of Tahpenes bore him a son
named Genubath, whom Tahpenes brought up in the royal palace. There Genubath
lived with Pharaoh’s own children.

21 While he was in Egypt, Hadad heard that David rested with his ancestors and
that Joab the commander of the army was also dead. Then Hadad said to Pharaoh,
“Let me go, that I may return to my own country.”

22 “What have you lacked here that you want to go back to your own country?”
Pharaoh asked.
“Nothing,” Hadad replied, “but do let me go!”

23 And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon son of Eliada,
who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah.

24 When David destroyed
Zobah’s army, Rezon gathered a band of men around him and became their leader;
they went to Damascus, where they settled and took control.

25 Rezon was
Israel’s adversary as long as Solomon lived, adding to the trouble caused by
Hadad. So Rezon ruled in Aram and was hostile toward Israel.

26 Also, Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against the king. He was one of
Solomon’s officials, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, and his mother was a widow
named Zeruah.

27 Here is the account of how he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built
the terraces and had filled in the gap in the wall of the city of David his
father.

28 Now Jeroboam was a man of standing, and when Solomon saw how well
the young man did his work, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of
the tribes of Joseph.

29 About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and Ahijah the prophet
of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone
out in the country,

30 and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing
and tore it into twelve pieces.

31 Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces
for yourself, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘See, I am
going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes.

32
But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have
chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe.

33 I will do
this because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the
Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molek the god of the
Ammonites, and have not walked in obedience to me, nor done what is right in
my eyes, nor kept my decrees and laws as David, Solomon’s father, did.

34 “‘But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon’s hand; I have made
him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I
chose and who obeyed my commands and decrees.

35 I will take the kingdom from
his son’s hands and give you ten tribes.

36 I will give one tribe to his son
so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the
city where I chose to put my Name.

37 However, as for you, I will take you,
and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over
Israel.

38 If you do whatever I command you and walk in obedience to me and do
what is right in my eyes by obeying my decrees and commands, as David my
servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the
one I built for David and will give Israel to you.

39 I will humble David’s
descendants because of this, but not forever.’”

40 Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled to Egypt, to Shishak the
king, and stayed there until Solomon’s death.

41 As for the other events of Solomon’s reign—all he did and the wisdom he
displayed—are they not written in the book of the annals of Solomon?

42
Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.

43 Then he rested
with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David his father. And
Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.