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.”
19. When David saw that his servants were whispering together, he realized that the child was dead. Then David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.”
20. David stood up from the ground and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothing. Then he went to the house of Yahweh and worshiped, and he went to his own house. He asked, so they served him food, and he ate.
21. Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; now that the child has died, you get up and eat food!”
22. He said, “When the child was still alive, I fasted and I wept because I thought, ‘Who knows? Yahweh may have mercy on me that the child will live.’
23. But now he is dead. Why should I be fasting? Am I able to return him again? I am going to him, but he cannot return to me.”
24. David consoled Bathsheba his wife, and he went to her and slept with her. She bore a son, and he called him Solomon, and Yahweh loved him.
25. He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet, so he called him Jedidiah because of Yahweh.
26. And Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and he captured the royal city.
27. Then Joab sent messengers to David and said, “We have fought against Rabbah, and we captured the city of the waters.
28. So then, gather the remainder of the army and encamp against the city and capture it, lest I capture the city and my name be proclaimed over it.”
29. So David gathered all of the army, and he went to Rabbah and fought against it and captured it.
30. He took the crown of their king from his head. (Now its weight was a talent of gold, and there was a precious stone in it and it was put on David’s head.) He brought out the plunder of the city in great abundance.
31. He also brought out the people who were in it and put them to the saws and to the iron picks and to the iron axes, and he sent them to the place of the brickmakers. Thus he used to do to all the cities of the Ammonites, and he and all of the army returned to Jerusalem.