And it happened the seventh day that the child died. But the servants of David durst not tell him that the child was dead. For they said, "See, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice. How much more then will he vex himself if we tell him that the child is dead?"

And David was exceeding wroth with the man, and said to Nathan, "As surely as the LORD liveth, the fellow that hath done this thing is the child of death

But David saw his servants whispering and thereby perceived that the child was dead, and said unto his servants, "Is the child dead?" And they said, "Yea."

And he answered, "While the child was alive, I fasted and wept. For I this thought, 'Who can tell whether God will have mercy on me that the child may live?'

By the reason whereof, the best men thou hast whose hearts are as the hearts of lions, shall shrink thereat. For all Israel knoweth that thy father is a man, and that they which be with him be children of activity.