1. Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.
2. When 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 from Egypt.
3. So they sent and summoned him. When Jeroboam and all Israel came, they spoke to Rehoboam, saying,
4. "Your father made our yoke hard; now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you."
5. He said to them, "Return to me again in three days." So the people departed.
6. Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, "How do you counsel me to answer this people?"
7. They spoke to him, saying, "If you will be kind to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever."
8. But he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who grew up with him and served him.
9. So he said to them, "What counsel do you give that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, 'Lighten the yoke which your father put on us'?"