| New Living Translation | New International Version |
| 1I really don’t need to write to you about this ministry of giving for the believers in Jerusalem. | 1There is no need for me to write to you about this service to the Lord's people. |
| 2For I know how eager you are to help, and I have been boasting to the churches in Macedonia that you in Greece were ready to send an offering a year ago. In fact, it was your enthusiasm that stirred up many of the Macedonian believers to begin giving. | 2For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give; and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action. |
| 3But I am sending these brothers to be sure you really are ready, as I have been telling them, and that your money is all collected. I don’t want to be wrong in my boasting about you. | 3But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you in this matter should not prove hollow, but that you may be ready, as I said you would be. |
| 4We would be embarrassed—not to mention your own embarrassment—if some Macedonian believers came with me and found that you weren’t ready after all I had told them! | 4For if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we--not to say anything about you--would be ashamed of having been so confident. |
| 5So I thought I should send these brothers ahead of me to make sure the gift you promised is ready. But I want it to be a willing gift, not one given grudgingly. | 5So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly given. |
| 6Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. | 6Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. |
| 7You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” | 7Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. |
| 8And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. | 8And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. |
| 9As the Scriptures say, “They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.” | 9As it is written: "They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever." |
| 10For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. | 10Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. |
| 11Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. | 11You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. |
| 12So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God. | 12This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. |
| 13As a result of your ministry, they will give glory to God. For your generosity to them and to all believers will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. | 13Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. |
| 14And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the overflowing grace God has given to you. | 14And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. |
| 15Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words! | 15Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! |
| 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. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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