¹⁶ David pleaded with God on behalf of the boy and David fasted. He went to spend the night and lay upon the ground. ¹⁷ The elders of his household stood over him to lift him up from the ground, but he was not willing, and he did not eat any food with them. ¹⁸ It happened on the seventh day that the child died, and the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Look, when the child was alive, we spoke to him, but he would not listen to our voice. How can we tell him, ‘The child is dead’? He may do something evil.”