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Preparing the Gift

For it is not necessary[a] for me to write you about this service[b] to the saints, because I know your eagerness to help.[c] I keep boasting to the Macedonians about this eagerness of yours,[d] that Achaia has been ready to give[e] since last year, and your zeal to participate[f] has stirred up most of them.[g] But I am sending[h] these brothers so that our boasting about you may not be empty in this case, so that you may be ready[i] just as I kept telling them. For if any of the Macedonians should come with me and find that you are not ready to give, we would be humiliated[j] (not to mention you) by this confidence we had in you.[k] Therefore I thought it necessary to urge these brothers to go to you in advance and to arrange ahead of time the generous contribution[l] you had promised, so this may be ready as a generous gift[m] and not as something you feel forced to do.[n] My point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously[o] will also reap generously. Each one of you should give[p] just as he has decided in his heart,[q] not reluctantly[r] or under compulsion,[s] because God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace overflow[t] to you so that because you have enough[u] of everything in every way at all times, you will overflow[v] in every good work. Just as it is written, “He[w] has scattered widely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness remains forever.”[x] 10 Now God[y] who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your supply of seed and will cause the harvest of your righteousness to grow. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you may be generous on every occasion,[z] which is producing through us thanksgiving to God, 12 because the service of this ministry is not only providing for[aa] the needs of the saints but is also overflowing with many thanks to God. 13 Through the evidence[ab] of this service[ac] they will glorify God because of your obedience to your confession in the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your sharing[ad] with them and with everyone. 14 And in their prayers on your behalf, they long for you because of the extraordinary grace God has shown to you.[ae] 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift![af]

Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 9:1 tn Or “it is superfluous.”
  2. 2 Corinthians 9:1 tn Or “this ministry,” “this contribution.”
  3. 2 Corinthians 9:2 tn The words “to help” are not in the Greek text but are implied.
  4. 2 Corinthians 9:2 tn Grk “concerning which I keep boasting to the Macedonians about you.” A new sentence was started here and the translation was simplified by removing the relative clause and repeating the antecedent “this eagerness of yours.”
  5. 2 Corinthians 9:2 tn The words “to give” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
  6. 2 Corinthians 9:2 tn The words “to participate” are not in the Greek text but are implied.
  7. 2 Corinthians 9:2 sn Most of them is a reference to the Macedonians (cf. v. 4).
  8. 2 Corinthians 9:3 tn This verb has been translated as an epistolary aorist.
  9. 2 Corinthians 9:3 tn That is, ready with the collection for the saints.
  10. 2 Corinthians 9:4 tn Or “be disgraced”; Grk “be put to shame.”
  11. 2 Corinthians 9:4 tn Grk “by this confidence”; the words “we had in you” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied as a necessary clarification for the English reader.
  12. 2 Corinthians 9:5 tn Grk “the blessing.”
  13. 2 Corinthians 9:5 tn Grk “a blessing.”
  14. 2 Corinthians 9:5 tn Grk “as a covetousness”; that is, a gift given grudgingly or under compulsion.
  15. 2 Corinthians 9:6 tn Or “bountifully”; so also in the next occurrence in the verse.
  16. 2 Corinthians 9:7 tn Or “must do.” The words “of you” and “should give” are not in the Greek text, which literally reads, “Each one just as he has decided in his heart.” The missing words are an ellipsis; these or similar phrases must be supplied for the English reader.
  17. 2 Corinthians 9:7 tn Or “in his mind.”
  18. 2 Corinthians 9:7 tn Or “not from regret”; Grk “not out of grief.”
  19. 2 Corinthians 9:7 tn Or “not out of a sense of duty”; Grk “from necessity.”
  20. 2 Corinthians 9:8 tn Or “abound.”
  21. 2 Corinthians 9:8 tn Or “so that by having enough.” The Greek participle can be translated as a participle of cause (“because you have enough”) or means (“by having enough”).
  22. 2 Corinthians 9:8 tn Or “abound.”
  23. 2 Corinthians 9:9 sn He in the quotation refers to the righteous person.
  24. 2 Corinthians 9:9 sn A quotation from Ps 112:9.
  25. 2 Corinthians 9:10 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  26. 2 Corinthians 9:11 tn Grk “in every way for every generosity,” or “he will always make you rich enough to be generous at all times” (L&N 57.29).
  27. 2 Corinthians 9:12 tn Or “not only supplying.”
  28. 2 Corinthians 9:13 tn Or “proof,” or perhaps “testing” (NRSV).
  29. 2 Corinthians 9:13 tn Or “ministry.”
  30. 2 Corinthians 9:13 tn Or “your partnership”; Grk “your fellowship.”
  31. 2 Corinthians 9:14 tn Grk “the extraordinary grace of God to you”; the point is that God has given or shown grace to the Corinthians.
  32. 2 Corinthians 9:15 tn “Let us thank God for his gift which cannot be described with words” (L&N 33.202).

There is no need(A) for me to write to you about this service(B) to the Lord’s people.(C) For I know your eagerness to help,(D) and I have been boasting(E) about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year(F) you in Achaia(G) were ready to give; and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action. But I am sending the brothers(H) 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.(I) For if any Macedonians(J) come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to say anything about you—would be ashamed of having been so confident. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers(K) 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,(L) not as one grudgingly given.(M)

Generosity Encouraged

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.(N) Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give,(O) not reluctantly or under compulsion,(P) for God loves a cheerful giver.(Q) And God is able(R) to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need,(S) you will abound in every good work. As it is written:

“They have freely scattered their gifts(T) to the poor;
    their righteousness endures forever.”[a](U)

10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food(V) will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.(W) 11 You will be enriched(X) in every way so that you can be generous(Y) on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.(Z)

12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs(AA) of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.(AB) 13 Because of the service(AC) by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God(AD) for the obedience that accompanies your confession(AE) of the gospel of Christ,(AF) and for your generosity(AG) in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God(AH) for his indescribable gift!(AI)

Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 9:9 Psalm 112:9