3 So they sent and summoned him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came. Then they spoke to Rehoboam, saying,
4 “Your father made our yoke heavy; now lighten the hard labor of your father and the heavy yoke which he placed on us, and we will serve you.”
5 He said, “Go up for three days and then return to me”; so the people went away.
6 Then King Rehoboam consulted with the old men who had been serving before Solomon his father when he was alive, saying, “How are you advising me to answer this people?”
7 They said to him, “If you will be a servant today to this people, then you will serve them; and if you answer them and speak good words to them, they will always be your servants.”
8 But he rejected the advice of the old men, which they gave him, and he consulted with the youngsters who had grown up with him, who were serving before him.
9 He said to them, “What are you advising that we should reply to this people who spoke to me by saying, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us.’ ”