1
Rechav'am went to Sh'khem, where all Isra'el had come in order to proclaim him king.
2
When Yarov'am the son of N'vat heard of it, he returned from Egypt, where he had fled from Shlomo.
3
They sent and summoned him, so Yarov'am and all Isra'el came and said to Rechav'am,
4
"Your father laid a harsh yoke on us. But if you will lighten the harsh service we had to render your father and ease his heavy yoke that he put on us, we will serve you."
5
He said to them, "Come back to me after three days." So the people left.
6
King Rechav'am consulted the older men who had been in attendance on Shlomo his father during his lifetime and asked, "What advice would you give me as to how to answer these people?"
7
They said to him, "If you will treat these people kindly, pleasing them and giving them favorable consideration, they will be your servants forever."
8
But he didn't take the advice the older men gave him; instead he consulted the young men he had grown up with, who were now his attendants.
9
He said to them, "What advice would you give me, so that we can give an answer to these people who said to me, 'Lighten the yoke that your father laid on us'?"
10
The young men he had grown up with said to him, "The people who said to you, 'Your father made our yoke heavy, but you, make it lighter for us'- here's the answer you should give them: 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist!