2 *Chronicles 10

₁Rehoboam went to the town of Shechem and all the Israelites went there to make him king. ₂They told Jeroboam, son of Nebat, about it as he was still in the land of Egypt, because he had been afraid of King Solomon and he had fled there. He stayed there but ₃then the people of Israel asked him to come back and he went back to Israel. Jeroboam and all the Israelites went to Rehoboam to talk to him. ₄They said: ‘Your father made us work very hard. If you do not make us work so hard, then we will serve you and work for you.’

₅Rehoboam told them to go and to come back after 3 days and they went away. ₆The officials who had worked for Solomon while he was alive were there. King Rehoboam asked them what he should do. He asked them: ‘What do you say? How should I answer these people?’

₇They said to him: ‘If you want to be good to these people today and you do what they want and you give them a good answer, then they will always serve you.’

₈But Rehoboam did not listen to what they told him. He went to the young men who had grown up with him and who were his officials. ₉He asked them: ‘What do you say? How should I answer these people? They asked me not to make them work as hard as my father did.’

_10-11The young men who had grown up with Rehoboam said to him: ‘These people told you that your father had made them work hard and that you must not make them work so hard again. You must tell them: “My father made you work hard, but I will make you work even harder because my little finger is thicker than my father's body. My father ruled you with ordinary whips, but I will rule you with whips that sting like scorpions.” ’

₁₂Rehoboam had told Jeroboam and all the people who came to him to come back after 3 days. They came back on the 3rd day ₁₃and the king was angry and harsh when he talked to them. He did not listen to or do what the older leaders had told him to do. ₁₄He did what the young men told him to do. Rehoboam said: ‘My father made you work hard and I will make you work even harder. He ruled you with ordinary whips, but I will rule you with whips that sting like scorpions.’

₁₅The king did not listen to the people because the Lord made this happen that way. The Lord wanted to do what He had told Jeroboam, son of Nebat, when he had sent Ahijah from the town of Shiloh to him. ₁₆When the king did not listen to Jeroboam and the people, all the people of the 10 tribes of Israel said to the king:

The Israelites went back home. ₁₇Rehoboam was king_of_Israel, but only of the people who lived in the towns of Judah. ₁₈Adoniram was the leader of the people who had to work for the king. King Rehoboam sent Adoniram to talk to the Israelites, but they all came and killed him with stones. King Rehoboam had to get onto his war-chariot quickly and flee to Jerusalem. ₁₉This is how the Israelites rebelled_against the royal house of David and it is still the same today.