13 ^tTake care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place that you see,

2 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel and say to them, This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. 3 If any one of the house of Israel ^ukills an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or kills it outside the camp, 4 and ^vdoes not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it as a gift to the Lord in front of the tabernacle of the Lord, bloodguilt shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood, and that man ^wshall be cut off from among his people. 5 This is to the end that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they sacrifice ^xin the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and sacrifice them ^yas sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord.

6 and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, ^kyour tithes and the contribution that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the ^lfirstborn of your herd and of your flock.

The Lord’s Chosen Place of Worship

1 ^b“These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, ^call the days that you live on the earth.

28 So the king took counsel and ^dmade two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. ^eBehold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” 29 And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30 Then ^fthis thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one.¹ 31 He also made ^gtemples on high places and ^happointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites. 32 And Jeroboam appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like ⁱthe feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he made. And he placed in Bethel ^jthe priests of the high places that he had made.

Rehoboam’s Folly

1 ⁱRehoboam went to ^jShechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.

34 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord ^mand walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.

2 He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.

17 So the Levites appointed ^qHeman the son of Joel; and of his brothers ^rAsaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari, their brothers, ^sEthan the son of Kushaiah;