22 But God spoke to a prophet named Shemaiah. He said,
23 “Talk to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to men of Judah and Benjamin.
24 Say to them, ‘The Lord says that you must not go to war against your brothers. Everyone, go home! I made all this happen.’” So all the men in Rehoboam’s army obeyed the Lord. They went home, just as the Lord had commanded.
25 Jeroboam rebuilt the city of Shechem, in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived there. Later he went to the city of Penuel and rebuilt it.
26-27 Jeroboam said to himself, “If the people keep going to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at the Lord’S Temple, someday they will want to be ruled by their old masters. They will want to be ruled by King Rehoboam of Judah. And then they will kill me.”
28 So the king asked his advisors what to do. They gave him their advice, and King Jeroboam made two golden calves. He said to the people, “You don’t have to go to Jerusalem to worship anymore. Israel, these are the gods that brought you out of Egypt.”
29 King Jeroboam put one golden calf in Bethel and the other one in the city of Dan.