1 Kings 12:25–33

²⁵Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And from there he went out and built Penuel.^c

²⁶Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom might revert to the house of David. ²⁷If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, their hearts will return to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah; then they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.”

²⁸After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people,^d “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

²⁹One calf he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. ³⁰And this thing became a sin; the people walked as far as Dan to worship before one of the calves.^e

³¹Jeroboam also built shrines on the high places and appointed from every class of people priests who were not Levites. ³²And Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month,^f like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar; he made this offering in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had set up, and he installed priests in Bethel for the high places he had set up.

³³On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, Jeroboam offered sacrifices on the altar he had set up in Bethel. So he ordained a feast for the Israelites, offered sacrifices on the altar, and burned incense.