en_tn/1ch/11/19.md

Far be it for me before God that I should ever do this

"May God never see me do something like this" or "This is something I, who fear God, should never do"

Should I drink the blood of these men who have risked their lives?

David speaks of the water as if it were blood because the men risked their lives to bring the water to him. He uses a question to emphasize this. This rhetorical question can be translated as a statement. Alternate translation: "I should not drink this water, which would be like drinking the blood of these men who have risked their lives to bring it to me." (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor and rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-rquestion)