2 Corinthians 8-10

II Corinthians 8

¹And now we give you news, brothers, about the grace of God which has been given to the churches of Macedonia;

²How while they were undergoing every sort of trouble, and were in the greatest need, they took all the greater joy in being able to give freely to the needs of others.

³For I give them witness, that as they were able, and even more than they were able, they gave from the impulse of their hearts,

⁴Seriously requesting us that they might have a part in this grace of being servants to the needs of the saints:

⁵And going even farther than our hope, they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us after the purpose of God.

⁶So that we made a request to Titus that, as he had made a start before, so he might make this grace complete in you.

⁷And that as you are full of every good thing, of faith, of the word, of knowledge, of a ready mind, and of love to us, so you may be full of this grace in the same way.

⁸I am not giving you an order, but using the ready mind of others as a test of the quality of your love.

⁹For you see the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how though he had wealth, he became poor on your account, so that through his need you might have wealth.

¹⁰And in this I give my opinion: for it is to your profit, who were the first to make a start a year before, not only to do this, but to make clear that your minds were more than ready to do it.

¹¹Then make the doing of it complete; so that as you had a ready mind, you may give effect to it as you are able.

¹²For if there is a ready mind, a man will have God's approval in the measure of what he has, and not of what he has not.

¹³And I am not saying this so that others may get off free, while the weight comes on you:

¹⁴But so that things may be equal; that from those things of which you have more than enough at the present time their need may be helped, and that if you are in any need they may be a help to you in the same way, making things equal.

¹⁵As it says in the Writings, He who had taken up much had nothing over and he who had little had enough.

¹⁶But praise be to God, who puts the same care for you into the heart of Titus.

¹⁷For while he gladly gave ear to our request, he was interested enough to go to you from the impulse of his heart.

¹⁸And with him we have sent a brother whose praise in the good news has gone through all the churches;

¹⁹And not only so, but he was marked out by the churches to go with us in the grace of this giving which we have undertaken to the glory of the Lord and to make clear that our mind was ready:

²⁰And so that no man might be able to say anything against us in the business of this giving which has been put into our hands:

²¹For the business has been so ordered by us as to have the approval, not only of the Lord, but of men.

²²And we have sent with them our brother, whose ready spirit has been made clear to us at times and in ways without number, but it is now all the more so because of the certain faith which he has in you.

²³If any question comes up about Titus, he is my brother-worker, working with me for you; or about the others, they are the representatives of the churches to the glory of Christ.

²⁴Make clear then to them, as representatives of the churches, the quality of your love, and that the things which we have said about you are true.

II Corinthians 9

¹But there is no need for me to say anything in my letter about the giving to the saints:

²For I have before made clear to those of Macedonia my pride in your ready mind, saying to them that Achaia has been ready for a year back; and a great number have been moved to do the same by your example.

³But I have sent the brothers, so that the good things we said about you may be seen to be true, and that, as I said, you may be ready:

⁴For fear that, if any from Macedonia come with me, and you are not ready, we (not to say, you) might be put to shame in this thing.

⁵So it seemed to me wise for the brothers to go before, and see that the amount which you had undertaken to give was ready, so that it might be a cause for praise, and not as if we were making profit out of you.

⁶But in the Writings it says, He who puts in only a small number of seeds, will get in the same; and he who puts them in from a full hand, will have produce in full measure from them.

⁷Let every man do after the purpose of his heart; not giving with grief, or by force: for God takes pleasure in a ready giver.

⁸And God is able to give you all grace in full measure; so that ever having enough of all things, you may be full of every good work:

⁹As it is said in the Writings, He has sent out far and wide, he has given to the poor; his righteousness is for ever.

¹⁰And he who gives seed for putting into the field and bread for food, will take care of the growth of your seed, at the same time increasing the fruits of your righteousness;

¹¹Your wealth being increased in everything, with a simple mind, causing praise to God through us.

¹²For this work of giving not only takes care of the needs of the saints, but is the cause of much praise to God;

¹³For when, through this work of giving, they see what you are, they give glory to God for the way in which you have given yourselves to the good news of Christ, and for the wealth of your giving to them and to all;

¹⁴While their hearts go out to you in love and in prayer for you, because of the great grace of God which is in you.

¹⁵Praise be to God for what he has given, which words have no power to say.

II Corinthians 10

¹Now I, Paul, myself make request to you by the quiet and gentle behaviour of Christ, I who am poor in spirit when with you, but who say what is in my mind to you without fear when I am away from you:

²Yes, I make my request to you, so that when I am with you I may not have to make use of the authority which may be needed against some to whom we seem to be walking after the flesh.

³For though we may be living in the flesh, we are not fighting after the way of the flesh

⁴(For the arms with which we are fighting are not those of the flesh, but are strong before God for the destruction of high places);

⁵Putting an end to reasonings, and every high thing which is lifted up against the knowledge of God, and causing every thought to come under the authority of Christ;

⁶Being ready to give punishment to whatever is against his authority, after you have made it clear that you are completely under his control.

⁷Give attention to the things which are before you. If any man seems to himself to be Christ's, let him keep in mind that we are as much Christ's as he is.

⁸For though I might take pride in our authority (which the Lord gave for building you up, and not for your destruction), it will not be a cause of shame to me:

⁹That I may not seem to have the desire of causing you fear by my letters.

¹⁰For his letters, they say, have weight and are strong; but in body he is feeble, and his way of talking has little force.

¹¹Let those who say this keep in mind that, what we are in word by letters when we are away, so will we be in act when we are present.

¹²For we will not make comparison of ourselves with some of those who say good things about themselves: but these, measuring themselves by themselves, and making comparison of themselves with themselves, are not wise.

¹³We will not give glory to ourselves in over-great measure, but after the measure of the rule which God has given us, a measure which comes even to you.

¹⁴For we have no need to make ourselves seem more than we are, as if our authority did not come as far as to you: for we came even as far as you with the good news of Christ:

¹⁵Not taking credit to ourselves for what is not our business, that is, for the work of others; but having hope that, with the growth of your faith, we may get the credit for an increase which is the effect of our work,

¹⁶So that we may be able to go on and take the good news to countries still farther away than you are, and not take credit for another man's work in making things ready to our hand.

¹⁷But whoever has a desire for glory, let his glory be in the Lord.

¹⁸For the Lord's approval of a man is not dependent on his opinion of himself, but on the Lord's opinion of him.