¹⁶David begged God to heal the child. David didn’t eat anything. He spent his nights lying on the ground. ¹⁷His most trusted servants stood beside him. They wanted him to get up from the ground. But he refused to do it. And he wouldn’t eat any food with them.

¹⁸On the seventh day the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him the child was dead. They thought, “While the child was still alive, we spoke to David. But he wouldn’t listen to us. So how can we tell him the child is dead? He might do something terrible to himself.”

¹⁹David saw that his servants were whispering to each other. Then he realized the child was dead. “Has the child died?” he asked.

“Yes,” they replied. “He’s dead.”

²⁰Then David got up from the ground. After he washed himself, he put on lotions. He changed his clothes. He went into the house of the Lord and worshiped him. Then he went to his own house. He asked for some food. They served it to him. And he ate it.

²¹His servants asked him, “Why are you acting like this? While the child was still alive, you wouldn’t eat anything. You cried a lot. But now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”

²²He answered, “While the child was still alive, I didn’t eat anything. And I cried a lot. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord might show favor to me. He might let the child live.’ ²³But now he’s dead. So why should I go without eating? Can I bring him back to life again? Someday I’ll go to him. But he won’t return to me.”

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