Second Letter to the Corinthians 8

¹ Now here, brothers, is the news of the grace of God which was given in the churches in Macedonia;

² and of how, throughout great trials by suffering, their constant cheerfulness and their intense poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity.

³ I can swear that they gave not only as much as they could afford, but far more, and quite spontaneously,

⁴ begging and begging us for the favour of sharing in this service to the saints

⁵ and, what was quite unexpected, they offered their own selves first to God and, under God, to us.

⁶ Because of this, we have asked Titus, since he has already made a beginning, to bring this work of mercy to the same point of success among you.

⁷ You always have the most of everything – of faith, of eloquence, of understanding, of keenness for any cause, and the biggest share of our affection – so we expect you to put the most into this work of mercy too.

⁸ It is not an order that I am giving you; I am just testing the genuineness of your love against the keenness of others.

⁹ Remember how generous the Lord Jesus was: he was rich, but he became poor for your sake, to make you rich out of his poverty.

¹⁰ As I say, I am only making a suggestion; it is only fair to you, since you were the first, a year ago, not only in taking action but even in deciding to.

¹¹ So now finish the work and let the results be worthy, as far as you can afford it, of the decision you made promptly.

¹² As long as the readiness is there, a man is acceptable with whatever he can afford; never mind what is beyond his means.

¹³ This does not mean that to give relief to others you ought to make things difficult for yourselves: it is a question of balancing

¹⁴ what happens to be your surplus now against their present need, and one day they may have something to spare that will supply your own need. That is how we strike a balance:

¹⁵ as scripture says: The man who gathered much had none too much, the man who gathered little did not go short.[*a]

¹⁶ I thank God for putting into Titus’ heart the same concern for you that I have myself.

¹⁷ He did what we asked him; indeed he is more concerned than ever, and is visiting you on his own initiative.

¹⁸ As his companion we are sending the brother who is famous in all the churches for spreading the gospel.

¹⁹ More than that, he happens to be the same brother who has been elected by the churches to be our companion on this errand of mercy that, for the glory of God, we have undertaken to satisfy our impatience to help.

²⁰ We hope that in this way there will be no accusations made about our administering such a large fund;

²¹ for we are trying to do right not only in the sight of God but also in the sight of men.[*b]

²² To accompany these, we are sending a third brother, of whose keenness we have often had proof in many different ways, and who is particularly keen about this, because he has great confidence in you.

²³ Titus, perhaps I should add, is my own colleague and fellow worker in your interests; the other two brothers, who are delegates of the churches, are a real glory to Christ.

²⁴ So then, in front of all the churches, give them a proof of your love, and prove to them that we are right to be proud of you.