Bethel was associated with Jacob’s meeting with God (Genesis 28:1–22), and was one of the sites on which King Jeroboam had set up an altar for the northern kingdom to use in worship (1 Kings 12:25–33). Gilgal was associated with the entry to the Promised Land where Joshua set up twelve stones (Joshua 4:19–20; Joshua 5:1–10), and it would have been a common site of pilgrimage. These two places are mentioned because they were common to the Israelite religious experience.
4 “Come to Bethel, and transgress; to Gilgal, and multiply transgression; bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days;