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 

“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!

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 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 

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

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

Joshua sent men from Jericho ¹  to Ai (which is located near Beth Aven, east of Bethel ² ) and instructed them, “Go up and spy on the land.” So the men went up and spied on Ai.

It then crossed from there to Luz, to the slope of Luz to the south (that is, Bethel), ¹  and descended to Ataroth Addar located on the hill that is south of lower Beth Horon.

Some members of the prophetic guild ¹  in Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that today the Lord is going to take your master from you?” ²  He answered, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”

He went up from there to Bethel. ¹  As he was traveling up the road, some young boys ²  came out of the city and made fun of him, saying, “Go on up, baldy! Go on up, baldy!”

However, Jehu did not repudiate the sins which Jeroboam son of Nebat had encouraged Israel to commit; the golden calves remained in Bethel ¹  and Dan. ² 

He asked, “What is this grave marker I see?” The men from the city replied, “It’s the grave of the prophet ¹  who came from Judah and foretold these very things you have done to the altar of Bethel.”

Josiah also removed all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria. The kings of Israel had made them and angered the Lord. ¹  He did to them what he had done to the high place in Bethel. ² 

Their property and settlements included Bethel ¹  and its surrounding towns, Naaran to the east, Gezer and its surrounding towns to the west, and Shechem and its surrounding towns as far as Ayyah and its surrounding towns.

Amaziah the priest of Bethel ¹  sent this message ²  to King Jeroboam of Israel: “Amos is conspiring against you in the very heart of the kingdom of Israel! ³  The land cannot endure all his prophecies. ⁴ 

Seek the Lord so you can live! Otherwise he will break out ¹  like fire against Joseph’s ²  family; ³  the fire ⁴  will consume and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel. ⁵ 

The Israelites went up to Bethel ¹  and asked God, ²  “Who should lead the charge against the Benjaminites?” ³  The Lord said, “Judah should lead.”

So all the Israelites, the whole army, ¹  went up to ²  Bethel. ³  They wept and sat there before the Lord; they did not eat anything ⁴  that day until evening. They offered up burnt sacrifices and tokens of peace ⁵  to the Lord.

The Benjaminites attacked ¹  the army, leaving the city unguarded. ²  They began to strike down their enemy ³  just as they had done before. On the main roads (one leads to Bethel, ⁴  the other to Gibeah) and in the field, they struck down ⁵  about thirty Israelites.

“As you continue on from there, you will come to the tall tree of Tabor. At that point three men who are going up to God at Bethel ¹  will meet you. One of them will be carrying three young goats, one of them will be carrying three round loaves of bread, and one of them will be carrying a container of wine.