¹⁵ Then Nathan went home.

David’s Infant Son Dies

After this, the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife had born to David, and the child^[a] became very ill. ¹⁶ David begged God on behalf of the youngster. He^[b] fasted, went inside, and spent the night lying on the ground. ¹⁷ His closest advisors at the palace^[c] got up, remained with him, and tried to help him get up from the ground, but he would not do so. He also wouldn’t eat with them.

¹⁸ A week later, the child died, and David’s staff was afraid to tell him that the child had died. They were telling themselves, “Look, when the child was still alive, we talked to him but he wouldn’t listen to what we said. Now what kind of trouble will he bring on himself if we tell him that the child has died?”

¹⁹ But as David observed his staff whispering together, he perceived that the child had died, so he asked his staff, “Is the child dead?”

They replied, “He has died.”

²⁰ At this, David got up from the ground, washed, anointed himself, changed his clothes, and went into the Lord’s tent^[d] to worship. Then he went back to his palace where, at his request, they served him food and he ate.

²¹ His staff asked him, “What’s this about? When the child was alive, you fasted and cried. Now that the child has died, you get up and eat!”

²² He answered, “When the child was alive, I fasted and cried. I asked myself, ‘Who knows? Maybe the Lord will show grace to me and the child will live.’ ²³ But now that he has died, what’s the point of fasting? Can I bring him back again? I’ll be going to be with him, but he won’t be returning to me.”

The Birth of Solomon

²⁴ Then David consoled his wife Bathsheba. He went in and had sex with her, and she bore a son whom he named Solomon. The Lord loved him, ²⁵ and sent a message written by Nathan the prophet to call his name Jedidiah,^[e] for the Lord’s sake.