He took five thousand men and set an ambush west of the city between Bethel ¹  and Ai.

The gift was for those in the following locations: ¹  for those in Bethel, ²  Ramoth Negev, and Jattir;

So the people came to Bethel ¹  and sat there before God until evening, weeping loudly and uncontrollably. ² 

Year after year he used to travel the circuit of Bethel, ¹  Gilgal, and Mizpah; he used to judge Israel in all of these places.

So he started back on another road; he did not travel back on the same road he had taken to Bethel.

Abijah chased Jeroboam; he seized from him these cities: Bethel ¹  and its surrounding towns, Jeshanah and its surrounding towns, and Ephron and its surrounding towns.

He built an altar there and named the place El Bethel ¹  because there God had revealed himself ²  to him when he was fleeing from his brother.

Now the people of Bethel ¹  had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melech and their companions to seek the Lord’s favor

This caused Israel to sin; ¹  the people went to Bethel and Dan to worship the calves. ² 

(Deborah, ¹  Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel; thus it was named ²  Oak of Weeping.) ³ 

They traveled on from Bethel, and when Ephrath was still some distance away, ¹  Rachel went into labor ²  – and her labor was hard.

Joshua sent them away and they went to their hiding place ¹  west of Ai, between Bethel ²  and Ai. ³  Joshua spent that night with the army. ⁴ 

No men were left in Ai or Bethel; ¹  they all went out after Israel. ²  They left the city wide open and chased Israel.

Just then ¹  a prophet ²  from Judah, sent by the Lord, arrived in Bethel, ³  as Jeroboam was standing near the altar ready to offer a sacrifice.

So one of the priests whom they had deported from Samaria went back and settled in Bethel. ¹  He taught them how to worship ²  the Lord.

So will it happen to you, O Bethel, ¹  because of your great wickedness! When that day dawns, ²  the king of Israel will be destroyed. ³ 

He struggled ¹  with an angel and prevailed; he wept and begged for his favor. He found God ²  at Bethel, ³  and there he spoke with him! ⁴ 

Jeroboam inaugurated a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, ¹  like the festival celebrated in Judah. ²  On the altar in Bethel he offered sacrifices to the calves he had made. ³  In Bethel he also appointed priests for the high places he had made.

The people of Moab will be disappointed by their god Chemosh. They will be as disappointed as the people of Israel were when they put their trust in the calf god at Bethel. ¹ 

“Go to Bethel ¹  and rebel! ²  At Gilgal ³  rebel some more! Bring your sacrifices in ⁴  the morning, your tithes on ⁵  the third day!