Solomon Turns from the Lord

1 Now ^wKing Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, ^x“You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. 4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and ^yhis heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, ^zas was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after ^aAshtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after ^bMilcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for ^cChemosh the abomination of Moab, and for ^dMolech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. 8 And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.

The Lord Raises Adversaries

9 And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because ^ehis heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, ^fwho had appeared to him twice 10 and ^ghad commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded. 11 Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, ^hI will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. 12 Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 However, ⁱI will not tear away all the kingdom, but ^jI will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem ^kthat I have chosen.”

14 And the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He was of the royal house in Edom. 15 For ^lwhen David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the slain, he struck down every male in Edom 16 (for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom). 17 But Hadad fled to Egypt, together with certain Edomites of his father’s servants, Hadad still being a little child. 18 They set out from Midian and came to ^mParan and took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and assigned him an allowance of food and gave him land. 19 And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. 20 And the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house. And Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh. 21 But when Hadad heard in Egypt ⁿthat David slept with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.” 22 But Pharaoh said to him, “What have you lacked with me that you are now seeking to go to your own country?” And he said to him, “Only let me depart.”

23 God also raised up as an adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master ^oHadadezer king of Zobah. 24 And he gathered men about him and became leader of a marauding band, ^pafter the killing by David. And they went to Damascus and lived there and made him king in Damascus. 25 He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon, doing harm as Hadad did. And he loathed Israel and reigned over Syria.

26 ^qJeroboam the son of Nebat, ^ran Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, also ^slifted up his hand against the king. 27 And this was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king. ^tSolomon built the Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of David his father. 28 The man Jeroboam was very able, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious he gave him charge over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. 29 And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet ^uAhijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had dressed himself in a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the open country. 30 Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, ^vand tore it into twelve pieces. 31 And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, ^wI am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes 32 (but ^xhe shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, ^ythe city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), 33 because they have¹ forsaken me ^zand worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and they have not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my rules, as David his father did. 34 Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of David my servant whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes. 35 ^aBut I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and will give it to you, ten tribes. 36 Yet to his son ^xI will give one tribe, that David my servant may always have ^ba lamp before me in Jerusalem, ^ythe city where I have chosen to put my name. 37 And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. 38 And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, ^cI will be with you and ^dwill build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39 And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever.’” 40 Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt, to ^eShishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

All Is Vanity

1 The words of ^athe Preacher,¹ the son of David, ^bking in Jerusalem.

The Vanity of Wisdom

12 I ^othe Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I ^papplied my heart⁶ to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy ^qbusiness that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is ^rvanity⁷ and a striving after wind.⁸

16 I said in my heart, “I have acquired great ^twisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And I ^uapplied my heart to know wisdom and to know ^vmadness and folly. I perceived that this also is but ^ra striving after wind.

The Vanity of Self-Indulgence

1 I ^xsaid in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.⁹ 2 I ^ysaid of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” 3 I ^zsearched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on ^afolly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. 4 I made great works. I ^bbuilt houses and planted ^cvineyards for myself. 5 I made myself ^dgardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves, and had ^eslaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of ^fherds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and ^ggold and the treasure of ^hkings and ⁱprovinces. I got ^jsingers, both men and women, and many ^kconcubines,¹⁰ the delight of the sons of man.

9 So I became great and ^lsurpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my ^lwisdom remained with me. 10 And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart ^mfound pleasure in all my toil, and this was my ⁿreward for all my toil. 11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was ^ovanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing ^pto be gained under the sun.

The Vanity of Living Wisely

12 ^qSo I turned to consider ^rwisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only ^swhat has already been done. 13 Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. 14 ^tThe wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the ^usame event happens to all of them. 15 Then I said in my heart, ^v“What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. 16 For of the wise as of the fool there is ^wno enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. ^xHow the wise dies just like the fool! 17 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for ^oall is vanity and a striving after wind.

The Vanity of Toil

18 I hated ^yall my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must ^zleave it to the man who will come after me, 19 and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. 20 So I ^aturned about and gave my heart up to despair ^bover all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21 because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22 What has a man from ^call the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? 23 For ^dall his days are full of sorrow, and his ^ework is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.

24 ^fThere is nothing better for a person than that he should ^geat and drink and find enjoyment¹¹ in his toil. This also, I saw, is ^hfrom the hand of God, 25 for apart from him¹² who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26 For to the one who pleases him ⁱGod has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given ^ethe business of gathering and collecting, ^jonly to give to one who pleases God. ^kThis also is vanity and a striving after wind.

A Time for Everything

1 For everything there is a season, and ^la time for every matter under heaven:

The God-Given Task

9 What ^xgain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen ^ythe business that ^zGod has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has ^amade everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot ^bfind out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I perceived that there is ^cnothing better for them than to be joyful and to ^ddo good as long as they live; 13 also ^ethat everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is ^fGod’s gift to man.

14 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; ^gnothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. 15 That which is, ^halready has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God ⁱseeks what has been driven away.¹³

From Dust to Dust

16 Moreover, ^jI saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even ^kthere was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. 17 I said in my heart, ^lGod will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is ^ma time for every matter and for every work. 18 I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but ⁿbeasts. 19 ^oFor what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.¹⁴ 20 All go to one place. All are from ^pthe dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows whether ^qthe spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? 22 So I saw that there is ^rnothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for ^sthat is his lot. Who can bring him to see ^twhat will be after him?