The First of Kings

11 But apart from Phar′aoh daughter, King Sol′o·mon still love plenty women wey no come from Israel. Women wey come from Mo′ab, Am′mon, E′dom, Si′don, and Hitʹtite women. 2 Them come from the nations wey Jehovah be don tell Israel people say: “Make una no ever go meet them* and make them no come meet una, because them go surely change una heart to follow their gods.” But Sol′o·mon no gree leave them and e love them. 3 And Sol′o·mon be get 700 wives wey be princess and 300 concubines,* and small-small, im wives start to change im heart. 4 When Sol′o·mon don old, im wives change im heart* to follow other gods, and e no use all im heart worship Jehovah im God like David im papa wey worship God with all im heart. 5 And Sol′o·mon start to worship Ash′to·reth, the woman god wey Si′don people de worship, and Mil′com, the rubbish god wey Am′mon people de worship. 6 And Sol′o·mon do wetin bad for Jehovah eyes, and e no use all im heart follow Jehovah the way David im papa don do.

7 Na that time Sol′o·mon build high place* ontop the mountain wey dey front of Jerusalem, for Che′mosh wey be the rubbish god of Mo′ab people, and for Mo′lech wey be the rubbish god of Am′mon people. 8 This one na wetin e do for all im wives wey no come from Israel, wey de make sacrifice smoke and de do sacrifice to their gods.

9 So Jehovah vex for Sol′o·mon no be small, because im heart don turn comot from Jehovah the God of Israel, wey appear to-am two times, 10 and wey don warn-am about this very thing say make e no follow other gods, but e no obey wetin Jehovah command-am. 11 Then Jehovah tell Sol′o·mon say: “Because you don do this thing, and you no keep my agreement and my laws wey I command you, I go surely comot the kingdom from your hand, and I go give-am to one of your servants. 12 But, because of David your papa, I no go do-am as you still dey alive. I go comot-am from the hand of your son, 13 but I no go comot the whole kingdom for im hand, I go leave one tribe for your son, because of David my servant and because of Jerusalem, the place wey I don choose.”

14 Jehovah come make one man dey against Sol′o·mon. Im name na Ha′dad wey be E′dom person, and e come from the family of the kings for E′dom. 15 When David win E′dom people, Jo′ab wey de control the army go bury the people wey die for the war, and e try to kill all the men for E′dom. 16 (Because Jo′ab and all the men for Israel stay there for six months until e don kill all the men* for E′dom.) 17 But Ha′dad and some of im papa servants wey be E′dom people run comot, them run go Egypt. That time, Ha′dad na small boy. 18 So them comot from Mid′i·an come Pa′ran. And from Pa′ran, them take some men with them go Egypt, go meet Phar′aoh the king of Egypt, wey give-am house and talk say make them de give-am food, and e still give-am land. 19 Phar′aoh come like Ha′dad well-well sotey, e carry the sister of Tah′pe·nes the queen* wey be im own wife, give-am make e marry. 20 After some time, the sister of Tah′pe·nes born boy for-am, wey im name na Ge·nu′bath, and Tah′pe·nes train-am* for the house of Phar′aoh, and Ge·nu′bath continue to dey for the house of Phar′aoh with the sons of Phar′aoh.

21 Ha′dad dey Egypt hear say David don die like im papa-papa them and say Jo′ab wey de control the army don die too. So Ha′dad tell Phar′aoh say: “Abeg, leave me make I go back to my own land.” 22 But Phar′aoh ask-am say: “E get anything wey you want as you dey with me wey I no give you, wey make you want go back to your own land?” So e answer-am say: “E no get anything, but abeg just let me go.”

23 God come still make another person dey against Sol′o·mon. Im name na Re′zon the son of E·li′a·da, wey run from im oga wey be Had·ad·e′zer the king of Zo′bah. 24 When David win* the men of Zo′bah, Re′zon gather some men to dey with-am and e come be chief of group wey de go attack people and collect their things. So them go Damascus, stay there, and start to rule for Damascus. 25 And e come dey against Israel people all the time wey Sol′o·mon de rule, and this one join for the problem wey Ha′dad de give Israel people, and as e be king for Syria, e hate Israel people no be small.

26 And e get another person wey start to turn against* the king too. Im name na Jer·o·bo′am the son of Ne′bat. Na E′phra·im person wey come from Zer′e·dah, and na Sol′o·mon servant. Im mama name na Ze·ru′ah, and na widow e be. 27 This na the reason why e turn against the king: Sol′o·mon be don build the Hill,* and be don close the place wey open for the City of David im papa. 28 Now this Jer·o·bo′am na strong man. When Sol′o·mon see say the young man na person wey de put body for work, e make-am overseer of all the people wey e command to work for-am from the house of Joseph. 29 Around that time, Jer·o·bo′am comot from Jerusalem, and prophet A·hi′jah wey be Shiʹloh person see-am for road. A·hi′jah wear new cloth, and na only two of them dey that place. 30 So A·hi′jah take the new cloth wey e wear and tear-am into 12 pieces. 31 Then e tell Jer·o·bo′am say:

“Take ten pieces for yourself, because this na wetin Jehovah the God of Israel talk: ‘See, I de comot the kingdom from Sol′o·mon hand, and I go give you ten tribes. 32 But I go leave one tribe for-am, because of my servant David and because of Jerusalem, the city wey I don choose out of all the tribes for Israel. 33 I go do this thing because them don leave me and de bow down to Ash′to·reth wey be the god of Si′don people, to Che′mosh the god of Mo′ab, and Mil′com the god of Am′mon people, and them no gree serve me as e be say them no de do wetin correct for my eye, no de obey my laws, and them no de respect my judgments as David im papa do. 34 But I no go take the whole kingdom from im hand, I go leave-am make e continue to be chief all the days of im life, because of David my servant wey I choose, because e obey my commandments and my laws. 35 But I go take the kingdom from the hand of im son and give-am to you. I go give you ten tribes. 36 I go give im son one tribe, so that David my servant go always get lamp wey go dey my front for Jerusalem, the city wey I don choose for myself as the place wey I go put my name. 37 I go choose you, and you go rule over everything wey you want,* and you go be king for Israel. 38 And if you obey everything wey I command you, and you continue to serve me, and you do wetin correct for my eyes as you de obey my laws, my commandments, just as David my servant do, I go dey with you too, and I go make your rulership last,* just as I do for David, and I go make you rule for Israel. 39 And I go disgrace the children of David because of this thing, but I no go do-am everytime.’”

40 So Sol′o·mon try to kill Jer·o·bo′am, but Jer·o·bo′am run go Egypt, go meet Shi′shak the king of Egypt, and e stay for Egypt until Sol′o·mon die.

41 As for the other story about Sol′o·mon, everything wey e do and the kind sense wey e get, them no write-am for the book wey talk about the things wey Sol′o·mon do? 42 Na 40 years Sol′o·mon rule all Israel people from Jerusalem. 43 Then Sol′o·mon die like im papa-papa them, and them bury-am for the City of David im papa, and im son Re·ho·bo′am start to rule as king after-am.