Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

²⁰ All the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned. They sent for him. They wanted him to meet with the whole community. Then they made him king over the entire nation of Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained true to David’s royal family.

²¹ Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem. He brought together 180,000 capable young men from Judah and the tribe of Benjamin. He had decided to go to war against Israel. Solomon’s son Rehoboam wanted his fighting men to get the kingdom of Israel back for him.

²² But a message from God came to Shemaiah. He was a man of God. God said to him, ²³ “Speak to Solomon’s son Rehoboam, the king of Judah. Speak to all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin. Also speak to the rest of the people. Tell all of them, ²⁴ ‘The Lord says, “Do not go up to fight against the Israelites. They are your relatives. I want every one of you to go back home. Things have happened exactly the way I planned them.” ’ ” So the fighting men obeyed the Lord’s message. They went home again, just as he had ordered.

Golden Calves at Bethel and Dan

²⁵ Jeroboam built up the walls of Shechem. It was in the hill country of Ephraim. Jeroboam made Shechem his home. From there he went out and built up Peniel.

²⁶ Jeroboam thought, “My kingdom still isn’t secure. It could very easily go back to the royal family of David. ²⁷ Suppose the Israelites go up to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at the Lord’s temple. If they do, they will again decide to follow Rehoboam as their master. Then they’ll kill me. They’ll return to King Rehoboam. He is king of Judah.”

²⁸ So King Jeroboam asked for advice. Then he made two golden statues that looked like calves. He said to the people, “It’s too hard for you to go up to Jerusalem. Israel, here are your gods who brought you up out of Egypt.” ²⁹ He set up one statue in Bethel. He set up the other one in Dan. ³⁰ What Jeroboam did was sinful. And it caused Israel to sin. The people came to worship the statue at Bethel. They went all the way to Dan to worship the statue that was there.

³¹ Jeroboam built temples for worshiping gods on high places. He appointed all kinds of people as priests. They didn’t even have to be Levites. ³² He established a feast. It was on the 15th day of the eighth month. He wanted to make it like the Feast of Booths that was held in Judah. Jeroboam built an altar at Bethel. He offered sacrifices on it. He sacrificed to the calves he had made. He also put priests in Bethel. He did it at the high places he had made. ³³ He offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. It was on the 15th day of the eighth month. That’s the month he had chosen for it. So he established the feast for the Israelites. And he went up to the altar to sacrifice offerings.

Christ Brings Us Back to God

¹¹ We know what it means to have respect for the Lord. So we try to help other people to understand it. What we are is plain to God. I hope it is also plain to your way of thinking. ¹² We are not trying to make an appeal to you again. But we are giving you a chance to take pride in us. Some people take pride in their looks rather than what’s in their hearts. If you take pride in us, you will be able to answer them. ¹³ Are we “out of our minds,” as some people say? If so, it is because we want to serve God. Does what we say make sense? If so, it is because we want to serve you. ¹⁴ Christ’s love controls us. We are sure that one person died for everyone. And so everyone died. ¹⁵ Christ died for everyone. He died so that those who live should not live for themselves anymore. They should live for Christ. He died for them and was raised again.

¹⁶ So from now on we don’t look at anyone the way the world does. At one time we looked at Christ in that way. But we don’t anymore. ¹⁷ When anyone lives in Christ, the new creation has come. The old is gone! The new is here!