¹³ They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk^[a] tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

¹⁶ David therefore begged God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night on the ground. ¹⁷ The elders of his house arose beside him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, and he didn’t eat bread with them. ¹⁸ On the seventh day, the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he didn’t listen to our voice. How will he then harm himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?”

¹⁹ But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; and David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?”

They said, “He is dead.”

²⁰ Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his clothing; and he came into Yahweh’s house, and worshiped. Then he came to his own house; and when he requested, they set bread before him, and he ate.