Then David summoned him. He ate and drank with him, and got him drunk. But in the evening he went out to sleep on his bed with the servants of his lord; he did not go down to his own house.

and said, “O Lord, I will not do this! ¹  It is equivalent to the blood of the men who risked their lives by going.” ²  So he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three elite warriors. ³ 

But the poor man had nothing except for a little lamb he had acquired. He raised it, and it grew up alongside him and his children. ¹  It used to ²  eat his food, ³  drink from his cup, and sleep in his arms. ⁴  It was just like a daughter to him.

The king asked Ziba, “Why did you bring these things?” ¹  Ziba replied, “The donkeys are for the king’s family to ride on, the loaves of bread ²  and the summer fruit are for the attendants to eat, and the wine is for those who get exhausted in the desert.” ³ 

So the three elite warriors broke through the Philistine forces and drew some water from the cistern in Bethlehem near the gate. They carried it back to David, but he refused to drink it. He poured it out as a drink offering to the Lord

Uriah replied to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah reside in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and my lord’s soldiers are camping in the open field. Should I go to my house to eat and drink and have marital relations ¹  with my wife? As surely as you are alive, ²  I will not do this thing!”

I am presently eighty years old. Am I able to discern good and bad? Can I ¹  taste what I eat and drink? Am I still able to hear the voices of male and female singers? Why should I ²  continue to be a burden to my lord the king?