3 They summoned him, and Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam:
4 “Your father made our yoke difficult. You, therefore, lighten your father’s harsh service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”
5 Rehoboam replied, “Go home for three days and then return to me.” So the people left.
6 Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon when he was alive, asking, “How do you advise me to respond to these people? ”
7 They replied, “Today if you will be a servant to these people and serve them, and if you respond to them by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.”
8 But he rejected the advice of the elders who had advised him and consulted with the young men who had grown up with him and served him.
9 He asked them, “What message do you advise that we send back to these people who said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’? ”