2 Corinthians 8
King James Version
8 Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia;
2 How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.
3 For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves;
4 Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.
5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.
6 Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also.
7 Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.
8 I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.
9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
10 And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago.
11 Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.
12 For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.
13 For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened:
14 But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:
15 As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.
16 But thanks be to God, which put the same earnest care into the heart of Titus for you.
17 For indeed he accepted the exhortation; but being more forward, of his own accord he went unto you.
18 And we have sent with him the brother, whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches;
19 And not that only, but who was also chosen of the churches to travel with us with this grace, which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord, and declaration of your ready mind:
20 Avoiding this, that no man should blame us in this abundance which is administered by us:
21 Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.
22 And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have oftentimes proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent, upon the great confidence which I have in you.
23 Whether any do enquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellowhelper concerning you: or our brethren be enquired of, they are the messengers of the churches, and the glory of Christ.
24 Wherefore shew ye to them, and before the churches, the proof of your love, and of our boasting on your behalf.
2 Corinthians 8
EasyEnglish Bible
Help for the poor people at Jerusalem
8 My Christian friends, let me tell you about the believers in the churches in Macedonia. God has been very kind to them. 2 They have had bad troubles, but they continued to be very happy. As a result, they gave a lot of money to other people. They themselves are very poor, but they still helped other people a lot. 3 Let me tell you this. They gave as much money as they were able to give. Then they gave even more than that! They gave it because they wanted to. 4 They wanted the chance to help God's people. That would make them happy. So they asked us many times to help them to do this. 5 They did more than we had even hoped for! First, they gave themselves to the Lord. Then they also gave themselves to us. They did that because God wanted them to do it.
6 Because of that, we asked Titus to continue to help you. He is the person who helped you to start giving money. So he will help you to finish this good work. 7 You have so much of everything! You trust God very well. You speak well. You know everything. You want to do many good things. You love us even more than we love you! So also do the best that you can as you give money to help others.
8 I am not telling you that you must do this. I have told you how much other believers want to give their money. In that way, I want to see if you really love other people who need your help. 9 You know that our Lord Jesus Christ is very kind. He was rich, but he made himself poor to help you. So then, because he became poor, you could become rich.[a]
10 This is what I think you should do. Last year, you were the first people to give money. You really wanted to do that. So the best thing for you is to finish what you started to do. 11 Now finish the work. When you started, you wanted very much to do it. Now you should want just as much to finish it. You should give what you are able to give. 12 If you really want to give, then God will accept your gift. God does not want you to give more than you are able to give. He will be happy about what you can give.
13 My purpose is not to bring trouble to you. You should not have pain while other people have plenty. Instead, both you and they should have enough. 14 At this time, you yourselves have plenty. So you are able to give to those people who do not have enough. One day, things may change. They may have plenty, and you may not have enough. Then they can give money to help you. In that way, you will all have enough when you need it. 15 It says this in the Bible:
‘The person who picked up a lot did not have too much.
And the person who picked up a small amount also had enough.’[b]
Paul is sending Titus to Corinth
16 Titus wants to help you just as much as we do. We thank God that he has made Titus ready to do that. 17 He was very happy when we asked him to come to you. He himself already wanted to help you. So he really decided to visit you for himself. 18 We are sending another man with Titus. He is also a believer. The Christians in all the other churches praise this man. They say that he works hard to tell people the good news about Christ. 19 Those Christians in the other churches have also chosen this man to travel with us. They want him to help us when we take this gift. Our work will show that the Lord is great. It will also show that we are ready to help.
20 We want to be very careful about this large gift of money. That is why the other believer will come with us. We do not want anyone to say that we have done something wrong. 21 Our purpose is to do only what is right. We want the Lord to see that, and people must see it as well.[c]
22 We will also send another believer along with the other men. This man has always shown us that we can trust him. He has wanted to help in many different ways. Now that he is very sure about you, he wants to help even more.
23 As for Titus himself, he works along with me, to help you. The other believers are coming on behalf of the churches that sent them. They want to show that Christ is great. 24 So show these men that you love them. Then all the churches will be sure about you. They will know that we were right to be proud of you.
Footnotes
- 8:9 In heaven, Jesus had everything. When he came to the earth, he left all that he had with God in heaven. He lived as a poor person on the earth. Because he did what God wanted, we become rich if we believe in him. We have a new life and we share in all the good things of heaven. See Philippians 2:6-11.
- 8:15 See Exodus 16:18. When the Israelite people were in the wilderness, God gave them manna for their food. They had to go out and pick up the manna each day. Each family had enough for them to eat that day. God always gave them just the right amount.
- 8:21 See Proverbs 3:4.
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