¹⁴ and followed the counsel of the younger ones.

“My father gave you heavy burdens, but I will give you heavier!” he told them. “My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions!”

¹⁵ So the king turned down the people’s demands. (God caused him to do it in order to fulfill his prediction^[a] spoken to Jeroboam by Ahijah the Shilonite.) ¹⁶ When the people realized what the king was saying, they turned their backs and deserted him.

“Forget David and his dynasty!” they shouted angrily. “We’ll get someone else to be our king. Let Rehoboam rule his own tribe of Judah! Let’s go home!” So they did.