When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he ¹  realized that the child was dead. So David asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” They replied, “Yes, he’s dead.”

I ¹  hear many whispering words of intrigue against me. Those who would cause me terror are everywhere! ²  They are saying, “Come on, let’s publicly denounce him!” ³  All my so-called friends ⁴  are just watching for something that would lead to my downfall. ⁵  They say, “Perhaps he can be enticed into slipping up, so we can prevail over ⁶  him and get our revenge on him.