nfluenced him to worship other gods, and he
was not loyal to Jehovah his God. Solomon built a place of worship for
Chemosh, the god of Moab, on the hill that is opposite Jerusalem, and
for Milcom, the god of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his
foreign wives, burning incense and offering sacrifices to their gods.

Then God raised up as a foe against him Rezon, the son of Eliada, who
had fled from his master, Hadadezer, king of Zobah. He gathered men
about him and became commander of a robber band, and he went to Damascus
and lived and reigned there. He was a foe to Israel as long as Solomon
lived.

Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, was a man of great ability. When Solomon saw
that the young man was industrious, he placed him over all the men of
the tribe of Joseph who were working for the ruler.

Once upon a time, when Jeroboam went away from Jerusalem, the prophet
Ahijah of Shiloh met him on the way and took him aside. Now Ahijah had
put on a new garment, and while they two were alone in the field, Ahijah
took hold of the new garment he had on and tore it in twelve pieces.
Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take for yourself ten pieces; for Jehovah,
the God of Israel, declares, 'I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of
Solomon and will give ten tribes to you, but he shall have only one
tribe.'" So Jeroboam also rebelled against Solomon.

Solomon, therefore, wanted to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled
to Egypt, and he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

REHOBOAM'S GREAT MISTAKE

When Solomon died, Rehoboam his son ruled after him. As soon as
Jeroboam, who was still in Egypt, heard that Solomon had died, he
returned at once to his home town, Zeredah in Mount Ephraim.

Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had come to Shechem to
make him ruler. But they said to Rehoboam, "Your father laid a heavy
yoke upon us. Now make the hard service of your father and the heavy
yoke that he laid upon us lighter, and we will serve you." He said to
them, "Go away for three days; then come again to me." So the people
went away.

Then Rehoboam asked advice from the old men who had been in the service
of Solomon his father during his lifetime and inquired, "What answer do
you advise me to give this people?" They said to him, "If now you will
serve this people and give them a favorable answer, then they will be
your servants forever."

But he rejected the advice which the old men had given him and asked the
y