Quotes About Wisdom

Then the LORD said to Solomon, “Because you have done this and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.

There Hadad found such great favor in the sight of Pharaoh that he gave to him in marriage the sister of Queen Tahpenes, his own wife.

Now Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor. So when Solomon noticed that the young man was industrious, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the house of Joseph.

Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomonís hand, because I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David My servant, whom I chose because he kept My commandments and statutes.

As for the rest of the acts of Solomon—all that he did, as well as his wisdom—are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon?

Thus the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.

So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel came to Rehoboam and said,

“Your father put a heavy yoke on us. But now you should lighten the burden of your fatherís service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then return to me.” So the people departed.

Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How do you advise me to respond to these people?” he asked.

They replied, “If you will be a servant to these people and serve them this day, and if you will respond by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.”

But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders; instead, he consulted the young men who had grown up with him and served him.

He asked them, “What message do you advise that we send back to these people who have spoken to me, saying, ëLighten the yoke your father put on usí?”

The young men who had grown up with him replied, “This is how you should answer these people who said to you, ëYour father made our yoke heavy, but you should make it lighter.í This is what you should tell them: ëMy little finger is thicker than my fatherís waist!

After three days, Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, since the king had said, “Come back to me on the third day.”

And the king answered the people harshly. He rejected the advice of the elders

But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God:

“Tell Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and the rest of the people

that this is what the LORD says: ëYou are not to go up and fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you must return home, for this word is from Me.í” So they listened to the word of the LORD and turned back according to the word of the LORD.

But the man of God replied, “If you were to give me half your possessions, I still would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place.

Now a certain old prophet was living in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the deeds that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father the words that the man had spoken to the king.

So the prophet said to the man of God, “Come home with me and eat some bread.”

But the man replied, “I cannot return with you or eat bread or drink water with you in this place.

Then the prophet replied, “I too am a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, ëBring him back with you to your house, so that he may eat bread and drink water.í” The old prophet was lying to him,