⁷ They said to him, “If you will be kind to these people and please them and speak good words to them, they will be your servants forever.” ⁸ But Rehoboam would not listen to the wise words of the leaders. He spoke with the young men who grew up with him and served him. ⁹ He said to them, “Tell me, how do you think I should answer these people who have said to me, ‘Do not let our load be as heavy as the one your father put on us’?”