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Generosity and Grace

Now brothers, we make known to you the grace of God which has been (A)given in the churches of (B)Macedonia, that in a great testing by affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the (C)richness of their [a]generosity. For I testify that (D)according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging us with much urging for the (E)grace [b]of sharing in the (F)ministry to the saints, and this, not as we had [c]expected, but they first (G)gave themselves to the Lord and to us by (H)the will of God.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 8:2 Or simplicity; without false motives
  2. 2 Corinthians 8:4 Lit and
  3. 2 Corinthians 8:5 Lit hoped

A Call to Generous Giving

Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters,[a] what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity.

For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem.[b] They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.

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Footnotes

  1. 8:1 Greek brothers.
  2. 8:4 Greek for God’s holy people.