He stretched out over the boy three times and called out to the Lord, “O Lord, my God, please let this boy’s breath return to him.”

“As for you, get up and go home. When you set foot in the city, the boy will die.

The Lord answered Elijah’s prayer; the boy’s breath returned to him and he lived.

The king then said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other!”

But Rehoboam rejected their advice and consulted the young advisers who served him, with whom he had grown up. ¹ 

Elijah took the boy, brought him down from the upper room to the house, and handed him to his mother. Elijah then said, “See, your son is alive!”

The young advisers with whom Rehoboam ¹  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.’ ²  Say this to them: ‘I am a lot harsher than my father! ³ 

and followed ¹  the advice of the younger ones. He said, “My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. ²  My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.” ³