Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam
1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king.
2
When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt.
3
So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and all Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him:
4
“Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”
5
Rehoboam answered, “Come back to me in three days.” So the people went away.
6
Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.
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They replied, “If you will be kind to these people and please them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”
8
But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.
9
He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”