New Testament Plan

¹Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia.

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 can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will.

⁴They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem.

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 have urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the first place, to return to you and encourage you to finish this ministry of giving.

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 commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches.

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.

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.

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.

¹²Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have.

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.

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 the Scriptures say, “Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough.”

¹⁶But thank God! He has given Titus the same enthusiasm for you that I have.

¹⁷Titus welcomed our request that he visit you again. In fact, he himself was very eager to go and see you.

¹⁸We are also sending another brother with Titus. All the churches praise him as a preacher of the Good News.

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.

²⁰We are traveling together to guard against any criticism for the way we are handling this generous gift.

²¹We are careful to be honorable before the Lord, but we also want everyone else to see that we are honorable.

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.

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.

²⁴So show them your love, and prove to all the churches that our boasting about you is justified.

¹I really don’t need to write to you about this ministry of giving for the believers in Jerusalem.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.”

⁸And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

⁹As the Scriptures say, “They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered 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.

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.

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.

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.

¹⁴And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the overflowing grace God has given to you.

¹⁵Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words!

¹Now I, Paul, appeal to you with the gentleness and kindness of Christ — though I realize you think I am timid in person and bold only when I write from far away.

²Well, I am begging you now so that when I come I won’t have to be bold with those who think we act from human motives.

³We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do.

⁴We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.

⁵We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.

⁶And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish everyone who remains disobedient.

⁷Look at the obvious facts. Those who say they belong to Christ must recognize that we belong to Christ as much as they do.

⁸I may seem to be boasting too much about the authority given to us by the Lord. But our authority builds you up; it doesn’t tear you down. So I will not be ashamed of using my authority.

⁹I’m not trying to frighten you by my letters.

¹⁰For some say, “Paul’s letters are demanding and forceful, but in person he is weak, and his speeches are worthless!”

¹¹Those people should realize that our actions when we arrive in person will be as forceful as what we say in our letters from far away.

¹²Oh, don’t worry; we wouldn’t dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant!

¹³We will not boast about things done outside our area of authority. We will boast only about what has happened within the boundaries of the work God has given us, which includes our working with you.

¹⁴We are not reaching beyond these boundaries when we claim authority over you, as if we had never visited you. For we were the first to travel all the way to Corinth with the Good News of Christ.

¹⁵Nor do we boast and claim credit for the work someone else has done. Instead, we hope that your faith will grow so that the boundaries of our work among you will be extended.

¹⁶Then we will be able to go and preach the Good News in other places far beyond you, where no one else is working. Then there will be no question of our boasting about work done in someone else’s territory.

¹⁷As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the LORD.”

¹⁸When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them.