¹⁶ David therefore appealed to God for the child [to be healed]; and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. ¹⁷ The elders of his household stood by him [in the night] to lift him up from the ground, but he was unwilling [to get up] and would not eat food with them. ¹⁸ Then it happened on the seventh day that the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “While the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he would not listen to our voices. How then can we tell him the child is dead, since he might harm himself [or us]?”