²¹ When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—a hundred and eighty thousand able young men—to go to war^(A) against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon.

²² But this word of God came to Shemaiah^(B) the man of God:^{(C) 23} “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to all Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, ²⁴ ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’” So they obeyed the word of the Lord and went home again, as the Lord had ordered.

Golden Calves at Bethel and Dan

²⁵ Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem^(D) in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel.^[a](E)

²⁶ Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. ²⁷ If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem,^(F) they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.”

²⁸ After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves.^(G) He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”^{(H) 29} One he set up in Bethel,^(I) and the other in Dan.^{(J) 30} And this thing became a sin;^(K) the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.^[b]

³¹ Jeroboam built shrines^(L) on high places and appointed priests^(M) from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. ³² He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth^(N) month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel,^(O) sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. ³³ On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel.^(P) So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings.