28 So the king sought advice.

Then he made two golden calves, and he said to the people, “Going to Jerusalem is too difficult for you. Israel, here is your God[a] who brought you out of the land of Egypt.”(A) 29 He set up one in Bethel,(B) and put the other in Dan.(C) 30 This led to sin;(D) the people walked in procession before one of the calves all the way to Dan.[b](E)

31 Jeroboam also built shrines on the high places(F) and set up priests from every class of people who were not Levites.(G) 32 Jeroboam made a festival in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the festival in Judah.(H) He offered sacrifices on the altar; he made this offering in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had set up. He also stationed the priests in Bethel for the high places he had set up.(I) 33 He offered sacrifices on[c] the altar he had set up in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month. He chose this month on his own.(J) He made a festival for the Israelites, offered sacrifices on the altar, and burned incense.(K)

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 12:28 Or here are your gods
  2. 1 Kings 12:30 Some LXX mss read calves to Bethel and the other to Dan
  3. 1 Kings 12:33 Or He went up to

28 After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves.(A) 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.”(B) 29 One he set up in Bethel,(C) and the other in Dan.(D) 30 And this thing became a sin;(E) the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.[a]

31 Jeroboam built shrines(F) on high places and appointed priests(G) from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. 32 He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth(H) month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel,(I) 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.(J) So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 12:30 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text people went to the one as far as Dan