21. David’s servants said to him, “Why are you doing this? When the baby was still alive, you refused to eat. You cried. But when the baby died, you got up and ate food.”
22. David said, “While the baby was still alive, I refused to eat, and I cried. I thought, ‘Who knows? Maybe the Lord will feel sorry for me and let the baby live.’
23. But now the baby is dead. So why should I go without food? I can’t bring him back to life. Some day I will go to him. But he cannot come back to me.”
24. Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife. He slept with her and had intimate relations with her. She became pregnant again and had another son. David named the boy Solomon. The Lord loved Solomon.
25. The Lord sent word through Nathan the prophet to name the baby Jedidiah. This was because the Lord loved the child.
26. Now Joab fought against Rabbah, a city of the Ammonites. And he was about to capture the royal city.
27. Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah. I have captured its water supply.
28. Now bring the other soldiers together and attack this city. Capture it before I capture it myself. If I capture this city, it will be called by my name!”
29. So David gathered all the army and went to Rabbah. He fought against Rabbah and captured it.
30. David took the crown off their king’s head. It was gold and weighed about 75 pounds. It also had gems in it. They put the crown on David’s head. And David took many valuable things out of the city.
31. He also brought out the people of the city. He made them work with saws, iron picks and axes. He also forced them to build with bricks. David did this to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his army went back to Jerusalem.