¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned^(A) against the Lord.”

Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away^(B) your sin.^(C) You are not going to die.^{(D) 14} But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for^[a] the Lord,^(E) the son born to you will die.”

¹⁵ After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck^(F) the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. ¹⁶ David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying^(G) in sackcloth^[b] on the ground. ¹⁷ The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused,^(H) and he would not eat any food with them.^(I)

¹⁸ On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”

¹⁹ David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked.

“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”

²⁰ Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed,^(J) put on lotions and changed his clothes,^(K) he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

²¹ His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept,^(L) but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”

²² He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows?^(M) The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’^{(N) 23} But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him,^(O) but he will not return to me.”^(P)

²¹ There, by the Ahava Canal,^(A) I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey^(B) for us and our children, with all our possessions. ²² I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers^(C) and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone^(D) who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.^(E)” ²³ So we fasted^(F) and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.

Jesus Questioned About Fasting^(A)

¹⁸ Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting.^(B) Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. ²⁰ But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them,^(C) and on that day they will fast.

²¹ “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. ²² And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”