1 Kings 12:6–11

⁶King Rehoboam ^aconsulted with the elders who had ¹served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you counsel me to answer this people?”

⁷Then they spoke to him, saying, “^aIf you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them and ¹grant them their petition, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”

⁸But he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who grew up with him ¹and served him.

⁹So 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’?”

¹⁰The young men who grew up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall say to this people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, now you make it lighter for us!’ But you shall speak to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins!

¹¹‘Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’ ”