¹Rehoboam went to Shechem , for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king .

²When Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was in Egypt , where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon ), Jeroboam returned out of Egypt .

³They sent and called him ; and Jeroboam and all Israel came , and they spoke to Rehoboam , saying ,

⁴“Your father made our yoke grievous . Now therefore make the grievous service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us , lighter , and we will serve you .”

⁵He said to them , “Come again to me after three days .”

So the people departed .

⁶King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men , who had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived , saying , “What counsel do you give me about how to answer these people ?”

⁷They spoke to him , saying , “If you are kind to these people , please them , and speak good words to them , then they will be your servants forever .”

⁸But he abandoned the counsel of the old men which they had given him , and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him , who stood before him .

⁹He said to them , “What counsel do you give , that we may give an answer to these people , who have spoken to me , saying , ‘Make the yoke that your father put on us lighter ’?”

¹⁰The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him , saying , “Thus you shall tell the people who spoke to you , saying , ‘Your father made our yoke heavy , but make it lighter on us ;’ thus you shall say to them , ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist .

¹¹Now whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke , I will add to your yoke . My father chastised you with whips , but I will chastise you with scorpions .’”

¹²So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day , as the king asked , saying , “Come to me again the third day .”

¹³The king answered them roughly ; and King Rehoboam abandoned the counsel of the old men ,

¹⁴and spoke to them after the counsel of the young men , saying , “My father made your yoke heavy , but I will add to it . My father chastised you with whips , but I will chastise you with scorpions .”

¹⁵So the king didn’t listen to the people ; for it was brought about by God , that the LORD might establish his word , which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat .

¹⁶When all Israel saw that the king didn’t listen to them , the people answered the king , saying, “What portion do we have in David ? We don’t have an inheritance in the son of Jesse ! Every man to your tents, Israel ! Now see to your own house , David .” So all Israel departed to their tents.

¹⁷But as for the children of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah , Rehoboam reigned over them .

¹⁸Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram , who was over the men subject to forced labour; and the children of Israel stoned him to death with stones. King Rehoboam hurried to get himself up to his chariot , to flee to Jerusalem .

¹⁹So Israel rebelled against David ’s house to this day .