3 The people sent and called for Jeroboam, who along with all Israel came and said to Rehoboam,
4 "Your father made our workload very heavy; if you will lessen the demands your father made of us and lighten the heavy workload he demanded from us, then we will serve you."
5 He answered them, "Come back in three days." So the people left.
6 King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon when he was alive. "What do you advise?" Rehoboam asked. "How should I respond to these people?"
7 "If you are kind to these people and try to please them by speaking gently with them," they replied, "they will be your servants forever."
8 But Rehoboam ignored the advice the elders gave him and instead sought the counsel of the young advisors who had grown up with him and now served him.
9 "What do you advise?" he asked them. "How should we respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lighten the workload your father demanded from us’?"