2 Chronicles 10:9
And he said unto them, What advice give ye that we may return answer to this people, which have spoken to me, saying, Ease somewhat the yoke that thy father did put upon us? And he said unto them, What advice give ye that we may return answer to this people, which have spoken to me, saying, Ease somewhat the yoke that thy father did put upon us?
The people had asked for relief from the heavy, oppressive yoke laid on them under Solomon, seeking to have that burden made lighter. Their request was one that called for reforms in the administration of government. In this verse Rehoboam turns to the young men who had grown up with him to ask what answer he should return to the people.
Those companions advised him to reply with a threat that he would make their burden even heavier and punish them more harshly than his father had. By choosing counsel that preserved and even increased the existing abuses, he helped bring about the division of the kingdom in fulfillment of the prophet's prediction.