12:6 King Rehoboam consulted with the older advisers who had served 1 his father Solomon when he had been alive. He asked them, 2 “How do you advise me to answer these people?” 12:7 They said to him, “Today if you show a willingness to help these people and grant their request, they will be your servants from this time forward.” 3 12:8 But Rehoboam rejected their advice and consulted the young advisers who served him, with whom he had grown up. 4 12:9 He asked them, “How do you advise me 5 to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lessen the demands your father placed on us’?” 6 12:10 The young advisers with whom Rehoboam 7 had grown up said to him, “Say this to these people who have said to you, ‘Your father made us work hard, but now lighten our burden.’ 8 Say this to them: ‘I am a lot harsher than my father! 9 12:11 My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. 10 My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.’” 11