The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the CSB. Switch to the CSB to read along with the audio.
Solomon’s Sin and God’s Judgment
11 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter, including Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. 2 They came from the nations about which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You must not enter into marriage with them, and they must not enter into marriage with you, or they will turn your hearts after other gods.” Solomon clung to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives who held the rank of princess and three hundred concubines. So they turned his heart away.
4 When Solomon became old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, so that his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord as the heart of his father David had been. 5 Then Solomon followed Ashtarte, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did not devote himself to the Lord as his father David had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, on the hill east of Jerusalem and for Molek,[a] the detestable god of the Ammonites. 8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and making sacrifices to their gods.
9 So the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10 The Lord had given him the command not to follow other gods, but Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command.
11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “Because this is your attitude, and because you did not keep my covenant and my statutes which I commanded you, I will surely rip the kingdom out of your hands and give it to your servant. 12 However, I will not do it during your lifetime because of your father David. I will rip it from your son’s hand. 13 But I will not rip away the whole kingdom. One tribe I will give to your son for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”
God Raises Foreign Enemies to Oppose Solomon
14 Then the Lord raised up Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom, as an adversary for Solomon. 15 Earlier, while David was at war with Edom, when Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the dead, he struck down every male in Edom. 16 For six months Joab and all Israel stayed there until he exterminated every male in Edom. 17 But while Hadad was a young boy, he had fled with some Edomites from among his father’s servants to go to Egypt. 18 So they set out from Midian and went to Paran. They took some men with them from Paran and went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt. He gave Hadad a house and decreed an allowance of food for him and gave him land.
19 Hadad found great favor in the eyes of Pharaoh, so Pharaoh gave him the sister of his own wife, the sister of Queen Tahpenes, as his wife. 20 The sister of Tahpenes bore him a son named Genubath. Tahpenes weaned him in the house of Pharaoh, so Genubath was in the house of Pharaoh with Pharaoh’s own sons.
21 Later Hadad heard that David rested with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead. So Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Send me back to my own country.”
22 Pharaoh said to him, “What are you lacking here with me, so that you want to go back to your own country?”
He said, “Nothing, but please let me go.”
23 God also raised up another adversary for Solomon, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah. 24 After David had destroyed Zobah’s army, Rezon gathered men around himself and was the commander of a band of raiders. They went to Damascus and lived there and ruled Damascus. 25 He was Israel’s adversary during all the days of Solomon, in addition to all the difficulties which Hadad caused. He was hostile to Israel, and he ruled over Aram.
God Chooses Jeroboam to Be King of Israel
26 Jeroboam son of Nebat was an Ephraimite from Zeredah. His mother’s name was Zeruah. She was a widow. Jeroboam was Solomon’s official, but he rebelled against the king. 27 This is the account of how he rebelled against the king.
When Solomon was rebuilding the Millo and repairing the gap in the wall in the city of his father David, 28 Jeroboam showed that he was a very capable man. When Solomon saw that the young man was a capable worker, he appointed him over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph.[b] 29 At that time, when Jeroboam left Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him on the road.[c] Ahijah was wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone in the field. 30 Ahijah took the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.
31 He told Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, because this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says.”
The Lord’s Message to Jeroboam
Look, I am tearing the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand, and I will give you ten tribes. 32 But one tribe will remain with him for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel. 33 This is because they have abandoned me and worshipped Ashtarte the goddess of the Sidonians, and Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites. They have not walked in my ways by doing what is upright in my eyes and keeping my commands and judgments as his father David did. 34 I will not take the whole kingdom from his hand because I appointed him leader for all the days of his life for the sake of my servant David, whom I chose and who kept my commands and statutes. 35 However, I will take the kingdom from his son’s hand, and I will give ten tribes to you. 36 To his son I will give one tribe in order that there may be a lamp for my servant David before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name.
37 But I will take you, and you will be king over all that your soul desires. You will be king over Israel. 38 If you listen to all that I command you, and if you walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes, keeping my decrees and my statutes, just as my servant David did, then I will be with you, and I will build an enduring house for you, just as I built for David. I will give Israel to you. 39 Now I will humble the seed of David because of this, but not forever.
40 As a result Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled to Shishak king of Egypt. He stayed in Egypt until Solomon died.
The Death of King Solomon
41 As for the rest of Solomon’s acts, everything he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? 42 Solomon was king over all Israel in Jerusalem for forty years.
43 Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David, his father. His son Rehoboam ruled as king in his place.
Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam
12 Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all Israel had gone there to make him king.
2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat was still in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon, he heard about this, and he returned from Egypt.[d] 3 So the people sent for him.
Then Jeroboam and the entire assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam, 4 “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now lighten your father’s harsh service and the heavy yoke he laid on us, and we will serve you.”
5 Rehoboam said to them, “Leave me for three days and then return to me.” So the people left.
6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon while he was alive. He asked, “What answer do you advise me to give to these people?”
7 They said to him, “If today you become a servant to this people—if you serve them and answer them with kind words—then they will be your servants for all time.”[e]
8 But he rejected the advice which the old men offered him. Instead, he consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9 He said to them, “What answer do you advise that we should give to these people who said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father laid on us’?”
10 The young men who had grown up with him said, “This is what you should say to this people who said to you, ‘Your father laid a heavy yoke on us. Now lighten our yoke.’ Tell them this: ‘My little finger[f] is thicker than my father’s waist.[g] 11 My father imposed a heavy yoke on you. I will make your yoke heavier. My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.’”[h]
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, because the king had said, “Come back to me on the third day.”
13 The king answered the people harshly, because he had rejected the advice which the old men had offered. 14 He spoke to them as the young men advised him: “My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke. My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.”
15 The king did not listen to the people, because this turn of events was from the Lord, in order to fulfill his word, which the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah from Shiloh.
16 All Israel saw that the king had not listened to them. So the people answered the king:
What share do we have in David?
No portion in the son of Jesse!
To your tents, Israel!
Now look after your own house, David!
So Israel went to their tents.[i]
17 Rehoboam continued to rule over the people of Israel who were living in the cities of Judah.
18 King Rehoboam sent out Adoram,[j] who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, was able to get in his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.
19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David until this day.
Jesus Appears to Saul on the Road to Damascus
9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way, he might bring them to Jerusalem as prisoners.
3 As he went on his way and was approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
5 He asked, “Who are you, Lord?”
He replied, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you need to do.”
7 The men traveling with him stood there speechless. They heard the voice but did not see anyone.
8 They raised Saul up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes, he could not see anything. They took him by the hand and led him into Damascus. 9 For three days he could not see, and he did not eat or drink.
Ananias Is Sent to Saul
10 There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
He answered, “Here I am, Lord.”
11 The Lord told him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. In fact, at this very moment he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he can regain his sight.”
13 Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many people about this man and how much harm he did to your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And he has authority here from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
15 The Lord said to him, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the people of Israel. 16 Indeed, I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
17 Ananias left and entered the house. Laying his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, whom you saw on your way here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
18 Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized. 19 And after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Saul (Paul) Proclaims Jesus
Saul stayed with the disciples in Damascus for several days. 20 Immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”
21 All who heard him were amazed and said, “Isn’t this the one who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? Didn’t he come here for this very purpose: to bring them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 But Saul continued to get stronger and kept confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.
23 After many days had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him, 24 but Saul was informed of their plot. They were watching the gates both day and night in order to kill him. 25 But his[a] disciples took him at night and let him down through an opening in the wall by lowering him in a basket.[b]
Psalm 131
My Heart Is Not Proud
Heading
A song of the ascents. By David.
Like a Satisfied Baby
1 Lord, my heart is not haughty,
and my eyes are not proud.
So I do not intrude into great matters
or into things too wonderful for me.
2 Instead I have soothed and quieted my soul.
As a nursed child rests with its mother,
like a nursed[a] child my soul rests with me.
3 Wait confidently, O Israel, for the Lord
from now to eternity.
4 An evildoer pays attention to wicked lips.
A liar feeds upon[a] a destructive tongue.
5 Whoever mocks a poor person insults his Maker.
A person who rejoices over calamity will not escape.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.