²³ that ^(A)I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’—

¹⁶ But he said, ^(A)“As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, ^(B)I will receive nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused.

¹⁵ And the Jews who were in ^[a]Shushan ^(A)gathered together again on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and killed three hundred men at Shushan; ^(B)but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

¹⁶ The remainder of the Jews in the king’s provinces ^(C)gathered together and protected their lives, had rest from their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of their enemies; ^(D)but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

⁵ Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ^(A)“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Love for the Church

^14 (A)Now for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you; for ^(B)I do not seek yours, but you. ^(C)For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.

⁹ And when I was present with you, and in need, ^(A)I was a burden to no one, for what I lacked ^(B)the brethren who came from Macedonia supplied. And in everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and so I will keep myself. ^10 (C)As the truth of Christ is in me, ^(D)no one shall stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia. ¹¹ Why? ^(E)Because I do not love you? God knows!

¹² But what I do, I will also continue to do, ^(F)that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast.

Gehazi’s Greed

²⁰ But ^(A)Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Look, my master has spared Naaman this Syrian, while not receiving from his hands what he brought; but as the Lord lives, I will run after him and take something from him.”

⁸ But the man of God said to the king, ^(A)“If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place.