²⁸ Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, “Watch now, when Amnon’s ^(A)heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon!’ then kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and ^[a]valiant.”

⁶ So they sat down, and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the young woman’s father said to the man, “Please be content to stay all night, and let your heart be merry.”

Gibeah’s Crime

²² As they were ^(A)enjoying themselves, suddenly ^(B)certain men of the city, ^(C)perverted^[a] men, surrounded the house and beat on the door. They spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, ^(D)“Bring out the man who came to your house, that we may know him carnally!”

⁹ And when the man stood to depart—he and his concubine and his servant—his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, said to him, “Look, the day is now drawing toward evening; please spend the night. See, the day is coming to an end; lodge here, that your heart may be merry. Tomorrow go your way early, so that you may get ^[a]home.”

³⁶ Now Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was, ^(A)holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; therefore she told him nothing, little or much, until morning light. ³⁷ So it was, in the morning, when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone. ³⁸ Then it happened, after about ten days, that the Lord ^(B)struck Nabal, and he died.

⁷ And after Boaz had eaten and drunk, and ^(A)his heart was cheerful, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain; and she came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.

²⁹ But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: ^(A)“We ought to obey God rather than men.

The Importance of Watching^(A)

³⁴ “But ^(B)take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with ^[a]carousing, drunkenness, and ^(C)cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.