King David asked the Lord, blessed be He, to tell him how long he would live. And the Lord, blessed be He, answered, "I never tell it to a human being, for I have taken an oath never to reveal it to any man."

Then King David said, "Tell me at least on what day I am to die."

Then the Lord, blessed be He, told him, "It will be on a Sabbath."

King David again asked, "Let me die on a Sunday."

Then the Lord, blessed be He, said, "No, for the rule of your son is to begin on a Sunday, and the kingdom of the one must not overlap that of the other even for one second."

Then King David, studied the whole day long every Sabbath so that the angel

of death should not be able to touch him. On the Sabbath on which he was to die, the angel of death came and wanted to take his soul, but David was poring over a book without interrupting his study. Hence the angel of death could do nothing to him. Then the angel of death bethought himself, "How can I take his soul? For so long as he is engaged in study I cannot touch him."

Now King David had a beautiful pleasure garden behind his house. So the angel

of death went into the garden and shook the trees. King David wanted to see who was there amongst his trees. And as he went up a ladder, it broke under him and he stopped studying, whereupon the angel of death took his life, and he earned a seat in paradise.