| New American Standard Bible 1995 | New Living Translation |
| 1Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, | 1Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. |
| 2that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. | 2They 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. |
| 3For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, | 3For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. |
| 4begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints, | 4They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem. |
| 5and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God. | 5They 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. |
| 6So we urged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well. | 6So we have urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the first place, to return to you and encourage you to finish this ministry of giving. |
| 7But just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also. | 7Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us —I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving. |
| 8I am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also. | 8I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches. |
| 9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. | 9You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich. |
| 10I give my opinion in this matter, for this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago not only to do this, but also to desire to do it. | 10Here is my advice: It would be good for you to finish what you started a year ago. Last year you were the first who wanted to give, and you were the first to begin doing it. |
| 11But now finish doing it also, so that just as there was the readiness to desire it, so there may be also the completion of it by your ability. | 11Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Give in proportion to what you have. |
| 12For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. | 12Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. |
| 13For this is not for the ease of others and for your affliction, but by way of equality-- | 13Of course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there should be some equality. |
| 14at this present time your abundance being a supply for their need, so that their abundance also may become a supply for your need, that there may be equality; | 14Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. In this way, things will be equal. |
| 15as it is written, "HE WHO gathered MUCH DID NOT HAVE TOO MUCH, AND HE WHO gathered LITTLE HAD NO LACK." | 15As the Scriptures say, “Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough.” Titus and His Companions |
| 16But thanks be to God who puts the same earnestness on your behalf in the heart of Titus. | 16But thank God! He has given Titus the same enthusiasm for you that I have. |
| 17For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest, he has gone to you of his own accord. | 17Titus welcomed our request that he visit you again. In fact, he himself was very eager to go and see you. |
| 18We have sent along with him the brother whose fame in the things of the gospel has spread through all the churches; | 18We are also sending another brother with Titus. All the churches praise him as a preacher of the Good News. |
| 19and not only this, but he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us in this gracious work, which is being administered by us for the glory of the Lord Himself, and to show our readiness, | 19He was appointed by the churches to accompany us as we take the offering to Jerusalem —a service that glorifies the Lord and shows our eagerness to help. |
| 20taking precaution so that no one will discredit us in our administration of this generous gift; | 20We are traveling together to guard against any criticism for the way we are handling this generous gift. |
| 21for we have regard for what is honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. | 21We are careful to be honorable before the Lord, but we also want everyone else to see that we are honorable. |
| 22We have sent with them our brother, whom we have often tested and found diligent in many things, but now even more diligent because of his great confidence in you. | 22We are also sending with them another of our brothers who has proven himself many times and has shown on many occasions how eager he is. He is now even more enthusiastic because of his great confidence in you. |
| 23As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; as for our brethren, they are messengers of the churches, a glory to Christ. | 23If anyone asks about Titus, say that he is my partner who works with me to help you. And the brothers with him have been sent by the churches, and they bring honor to Christ. |
| 24Therefore openly before the churches, show them the proof of your love and of our reason for boasting about you. | 24So show them your love, and prove to all the churches that our boasting about you is justified. |
| New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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