⁷ They answered, “Be kind to these people. Please them and give them a kind answer. If you do, they will serve you always.”

⁸ But Rehoboam did not listen to the advice the elders gave him. He talked with the young men who had grown up with him. They advised him in making decisions. ⁹ Rehoboam asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people? They said, ‘Don’t make us work as hard as your father did.’”