2 Corinthians 8
Good News Translation
Christian Giving
8 (A)Our friends, we want you to know what God's grace has accomplished in the churches in Macedonia. 2 They have been severely tested by the troubles they went through; but their joy was so great that they were extremely generous in their giving, even though they are very poor. 3 I can assure you that they gave as much as they could, and even more than they could. Of their own free will 4 they begged us and pleaded for the privilege of having a part in helping God's people in Judea. 5 It was more than we could have hoped for! First they gave themselves to the Lord; and then, by God's will they gave themselves to us as well. 6 So we urged Titus, who began this work, to continue it and help you complete this special service of love. 7 You are so rich in all you have: in faith, speech, and knowledge, in your eagerness to help and in your love for us.[a] And so we want you to be generous also in this service of love.
8 I am not laying down any rules. But by showing how eager others are to help, I am trying to find out how real your own love is. 9 You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; rich as he was, he made himself poor for your sake, in order to make you rich by means of his poverty.
10 My opinion is that it is better for you to finish now what you began last year. You were the first, not only to act, but also to be willing to act. 11 On with it, then, and finish the job! Be as eager to finish it as you were to plan it, and do it with what you now have. 12 If you are eager to give, God will accept your gift on the basis of what you have to give, not on what you don't have.
13-14 I am not trying to relieve others by putting a burden on you; but since you have plenty at this time, it is only fair that you should help those who are in need. Then, when you are in need and they have plenty, they will help you. In this way both are treated equally. 15 (B)As the scripture says, “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”
Titus and His Companions
16 How we thank God for making Titus as eager as we are to help you! 17 Not only did he welcome our request; he was so eager to help that of his own free will he decided to go to you. 18 With him we are sending the brother who is highly respected in all the churches for his work in preaching the gospel. 19 And besides that, he has been chosen and appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this service of love for the sake of the Lord's glory and in order to show that we want to help.
20 We are being careful not to stir up any complaints about the way we handle this generous gift. 21 (C)Our purpose is to do what is right, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of others.
22 So we are sending our brother with them; we have tested him many times and found him always very eager to help. And now that he has so much confidence in you, he is all the more eager to help. 23 As for Titus, he is my partner and works with me to help you; as for the other brothers who are going with him, they represent the churches and bring glory to Christ. 24 Show your love to them, so that all the churches will be sure of it and know that we are right in boasting about you.
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 8:7 your love for us; some manuscripts have our love for you.
2 Corinthians 8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Encouragement to Be Generous
8 We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia, 2 for during a severe ordeal of affliction their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means and even beyond their means, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor[a] of partnering in this ministry to the saints,(A) 5 and not as we expected. Instead, they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us, 6 so that we might urge Titus that, as he had already made a beginning, so he should also complete this generous undertaking[b] among you.(B) 7 Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you[c]—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.[d](C)
8 I do not say this as a command, but I am, by mentioning the eagerness of others, testing the genuineness of your love.(D) 9 For you know the generous act[e] of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.(E) 10 And in this matter I am giving my opinion: it is beneficial for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something.(F) 11 Now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means.(G) 12 For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.(H) 13 For I do not mean that there should be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a question of equality between 14 your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may also supply your need, in order that there may be equality. 15 As it is written,
“The one who had much did not have too much,
and the one who had little did not have too little.”(I)
Commendation of Titus
16 But thanks be to God, who put in the heart of Titus the same eagerness for you that I myself have. 17 For he not only accepted our appeal, but since he is more eager than ever, he is going to you of his own accord. 18 With him we are sending the brother who is praised among all the churches for his work for the gospel,(J) 19 and not only that, but he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us while we are administering this generous undertaking[f] for the glory of the Lord himself[g] and to show our goodwill.(K) 20 We are making this arrangement lest anyone blame us about this generous gift that we are administering, 21 for we are setting our minds on what is right not only before the Lord but also before the people.(L) 22 And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found eager in many matters but who is now more eager than ever because of his great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is my partner and coworker in your service; as for our brothers, they are messengers[h] of the churches, the glory of Christ.(M) 24 Therefore openly before the churches, show them the proof of your love and of our reason for boasting about you to them.(N)
2 Corinthians 8
Complete Jewish Bible
8 Now, brothers, we must tell you about the grace God has given the congregations in Macedonia. 2 Despite severe trials, and even though they are desperately poor, their joy has overflowed in a wealth of generosity. 3 I tell you they have not merely given according to their means, but of their own free will they have given beyond their means. 4 They begged and pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service for God’s people. 5 Also, they didn’t do this in the way we had expected, but first they gave themselves to the Lord, which means, by God’s will, to us.
6 All this has led us to urge Titus to bring this same gracious gift to completion among you, since he has already made a beginning of it. 7 Just as you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in diligence of every kind, and in your love for us — see that you excel in this gift too. 8 I am not issuing an order; rather, I am testing the genuineness of your love against the diligence of others. 9 For you know how generous our Lord Yeshua the Messiah was — for your sakes he impoverished himself, even though he was rich, so that he might make you rich by means of his poverty. 10 As I say, in regard to this matter I am only giving an opinion. A year ago you were not only the first to take action but the first to want to do so. Now it would be to your advantage 11 to finish what you started, so that your eagerness in wanting to commence the project may be matched by your eagerness to complete it, as you contribute from what you have. 12 For if the eagerness to give is there, the acceptability of the gift will be measured by what you have, not by what you don’t have. 13 It is not that relief for others should cause trouble for you, but that there should be a kind of reciprocity: 14 at present your abundance can help those in need; so that when you are in need, their abundance can help you — thus there is reciprocity. 15 It is as the Tanakh says,
“He who gathered much had nothing extra,
and he who gathered little had nothing lacking.”[a]
16 Now I thank God for making Titus as devoted to you as we are; 17 for he not only responded to our urging, but, being so devoted, he is coming to you on his own initiative. 18 And with him we are sending the brother whose work for the Good News is praised in all the congregations; 19 not only that, he has also been appointed by the congregations to travel with us, so that the way we administer this charitable work will bring honor to the Lord and show our eagerness to help. 20 Our aim in this is to show that our conduct in dealing with these substantial sums is above reproach; 21 for we take pains to do what is right not only in the sight of God but also in the sight of other people.[b] 22 With these two we are sending another brother of ours, one whose diligence we have tested many times in many ways, but who is now all the more diligent because of his great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is my partner who works with me on your behalf; and the other brothers with him are emissaries of the congregations and bring honor to the Messiah. 24 So the love you show these men will justify our pride in you to them, and through them to the congregations that sent them.
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 8:15 Exodus 16:18
- 2 Corinthians 8:21 Proverbs 3:4 (Septuagint)
2 Corinthians 8
The Message
The Offering
8 1-4 Now, friends, I want to report on the surprising and generous ways in which God is working in the churches in Macedonia province. Fierce troubles came down on the people of those churches, pushing them to the very limit. The trial exposed their true colors: They were incredibly happy, though desperately poor. The pressure triggered something totally unexpected: an outpouring of pure and generous gifts. I was there and saw it for myself. They gave offerings of whatever they could—far more than they could afford!—pleading for the privilege of helping out in the relief of poor Christians.
5-7 This was totally spontaneous, entirely their own idea, and caught us completely off guard. What explains it was that they had first given themselves unreservedly to God and to us. The other giving simply flowed out of the purposes of God working in their lives. That’s what prompted us to ask Titus to bring the relief offering to your attention, so that what was so well begun could be finished up. You do so well in so many things—you trust God, you’re articulate, you’re insightful, you’re passionate, you love us—now, do your best in this, too.
8-9 I’m not trying to order you around against your will. But by bringing in the Macedonians’ enthusiasm as a stimulus to your love, I am hoping to bring the best out of you. You are familiar with the generosity of our Master, Jesus Christ. Rich as he was, he gave it all away for us—in one stroke he became poor and we became rich.
10-20 So here’s what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart’s been in the right place all along. You’ve got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can’t. The heart regulates the hands. This isn’t so others can take it easy while you sweat it out. No, you’re shoulder to shoulder with them all the way, your surplus matching their deficit, their surplus matching your deficit. In the end you come out even. As it is written,
Nothing left over to the one with the most,
Nothing lacking to the one with the least.
I thank God for giving Titus the same devoted concern for you that I have. He was most considerate of how we felt, but his eagerness to go to you and help out with this relief offering is his own idea. We’re sending a companion along with him, someone very popular in the churches for his preaching of the Message. But there’s far more to him than popularity. He’s rock-solid trustworthy. The churches handpicked him to go with us as we travel about doing this work of sharing God’s gifts to honor God as well as we can, taking every precaution against scandal.
20-22 We don’t want anyone suspecting us of taking one penny of this money for ourselves. We’re being as careful in our reputation with the public as in our reputation with God. That’s why we’re sending another trusted friend along. He’s proved his dependability many times over, and carries on as energetically as the day he started. He’s heard much about you, and liked what he’s heard—so much so that he can’t wait to get there.
23-24 I don’t need to say anything further about Titus. We’ve been close associates in this work of serving you for a long time. The brothers who travel with him are delegates from churches, a real credit to Christ. Show them what you’re made of, the love I’ve been talking up in the churches. Let them see it for themselves!
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