7
They said, "You should be like a servant to them today. If you serve them and give them a kind answer, they will serve you always."
8
But Rehoboam rejected this advice. Instead, he asked the young men who had grown up with him and who served as his advisers.
9
Rehoboam asked them, "What is your advice? How should we answer these people who said, 'Don't make us work as hard as your father did'?"
10
The young men who had grown up with him answered, "Those people said to you, 'Your father forced us to work very hard. Now make our work easier.' You should tell them, 'My little finger is bigger than my father's legs.
11
He forced you to work hard, but I will make you work even harder. My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with whips that have sharp points.'"