1 Kings 12:28

²⁶ Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom might revert to the house of David.

²⁷ If 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.”

After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “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.”

²⁹ One calf he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan.

³⁰ And this thing became a sin; the people walked as far as Dan to worship before one of the calves.

Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “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.”
KJV: Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
WEB: So the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look and behold your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
ASV: Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
DARBY: And the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold. And he said to them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!
BLB: The king and took counsel and made two calves of gold, and he said to them, “It is too much for you⁺ to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

ÅB: Og kongen holdt råd, og så gjorde han to gullkalver; og han sa til folket: Dere har nå lenge nok draget opp til Jerusalem; se, her er dine guder, Israel, som førte deg opp fra Egypt.
OTB: Så kongen søkte råd, og laget to gullkalver, og han sa til folket, "Det er for mye for dere å dra opp til Jerusalem; se dine guder, Israel, som førte deg opp fra landet Egypt."
B1930: Og kongen holdt råd, og så gjorde han to gullkalver; og han sa til folket: I har nu lenge nok draget op til Jerusalem; se, her er dine guder, Israel, som førte dig op fra Egyptens land.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Exodus 32:4
He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
Read in context
Exodus 32:8
How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said, ‘These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”
Read in context
2 Kings 17:16
They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served Baal.
Read in context
2 Kings 10:29
but he did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit—the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.
Read in context
2 Chronicles 11:15
And Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat demons and calf idols he had made.
Read in context
Hosea 8:4–7
They set up kings, but not by Me. They make princes, but without My approval. With their silver and gold they make themselves idols, to their own destruction.
Read in context
Hosea 10:5–6
The people of Samaria will fear for the calf of Beth-aven. Indeed, its people will mourn with its idolatrous priests— those who rejoiced in its glory— for it has been taken from them into exile.
Read in context
Exodus 20:4
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
Read in context