11 Now King Shelomoh loved many foreign women—besides Far-oh’s daughter there were Moabite women, Ammonite women, Edomite women, Sidonian women, and Hittite women.[ref] 2 They were from the nations that Yahweh had told Israel about, “You must not mix with people from those nations, and they must not join together with you. They will certainly entice you to worship their gods.” However, Shelomoh clung to them for love.[ref] 3 He had seven hundred wives who were kings’ daughters, as well as three hundred slave-wives, and his wives were instrumental in his turning away from Yahweh. 4 By the time of his old age, Shelomoh’s wives had persuaded him to worship the gods from their countries—his heart wasn’t totally dedicated to Yahweh like his father David had been. 5 So Shelomoh started to worship the Tsidonians’ God Ashtoret and the Ammonites’ detestable God Milkom, 6 so he did many things that Yahweh had said were evil—he didn’t remain fully committed to Yahweh like his father David had been. 7 Then Shelomoh built a place to worship Kemosh, the Moabites detestable God, on a hill facing Yerushalem, and also for Molek, the Ammonites’ detestable God. 8 He did those things for his foreign wives who were burning incense and sacrificing to their gods.

9 Although Israel’s God Yahweh had appeared twice to Shelomoh, he now turned his devotion away from Yahweh, who then became angry with him. 10 Yahweh had warned Shelomoh not to follow after other gods, but he didn’t obey Yahweh’s instructions, 11 and Yahweh told him, “You have this against you: you haven’t kept my agreement and you’ve disobeyed my statutes that I gave you. So I’ll definitely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant, 12 except that for the sake of your father David I won’t do it in your lifetime, rather, I’ll tear the kingdom away from your son. 13 What’s more, I won’t tear the whole kingdom away—I’ll leave one tribe for your son to rule for my servant David’s sake, and for the sake of my chosen city Yerushalem.”