⁵ Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days, and then come back to me.” So the people departed.

⁶ King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had stood before Solomon, his father, during his lifetime. He said, “How do you advise me to answer this people, so that I can give them an answer?” ⁷ They answered him, “If you become a servant to this people today and you serve them and you give them a favorable answer, then they will be your servants forever.”