2 Samuel 12:15-25

Modern English Version

¹⁵ Then Nathan went to his house. The Lord struck the child that the wife of Uriah had born for David, and he became sick. ¹⁶ David entreated God on behalf of the child. He fasted for a period, and he would go in and lie throughout the night on the ground. ¹⁷ The elders of his house stood beside him to rouse him from the ground, but he was not willing, nor would he consume food with them.

¹⁸ The child died on the seventh day, and the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child had died. They said, “When the child was alive, we would speak to him, but he would not acknowledge our voices. Now how can we say to him, ‘The child is dead’? He may do harm.”

¹⁹ When David noticed that his servants were whispering to one another, he perceived that the child was dead. So he asked his servants, “Is the child dead?”

They said, “He is dead.”

²⁰ So David arose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his garments. Then he entered the house of the Lord and worshipped. He then went in to his own house. When he asked, they set down food for him and ate.

²¹ His servants said to him, “What is this thing you have done? You fasted and wept for the sake of the living child, but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”

²² He explained, “As long as the child was alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me, so that the child may live.’ ²³ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Am I able to bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

The Birth of Solomon

²⁴ Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife. He went to her and lay with her, so that she conceived a son. They named him Solomon, and the Lord loved him. ²⁵ So He sent a word by way of the prophet Nathan that he should be named Jedidiah for the sake of the Lord.