Their Ministry Commended

6 And ^(A)working together with Him, ^(B)we also urge you not to receive ^(C)the grace of God in vain— ² for He says,

Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”— ^3 (E)giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, ⁴ but in everything ^(F)commending ourselves as ^[a](G)servants of God, ^(H)in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, ⁵ in ^(I)beatings, in imprisonments, in ^(J)tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in ^(K)hunger, ⁶ in purity, in ^(L)knowledge, in ^(M)patience, in kindness, in the ^(N)Holy Spirit, in ^(O)genuine love, ⁷ in ^(P)the word of truth, in ^(Q)the power of God; by ^(R)the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, ⁸ by glory and ^(S)dishonor, by ^(T)evil report and good report; regarded as ^(U)deceivers and yet ^(V)true; ⁹ as unknown ^[b]yet well-known, as ^(W)dying ^[c]yet behold, ^(X)we live; as ^[d]punished ^[e]yet not put to death, ¹⁰ as ^(Y)sorrowful yet always ^(Z)rejoicing, as ^(AA)poor yet making many rich, as ^(AB)having nothing ^[f]yet possessing ^(AC)all things.

^11 (AD)Our mouth ^[g]has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians, our ^(AE)heart is opened wide. ¹² You are not restrained ^[h]by us, but ^(AF)you are restrained in your own ^[i]affections. ¹³ Now in a like ^(AG)exchange—I speak as to ^(AH)children—open wide to us also.

^14 (AI)Do not be ^[j]bound together with ^(AJ)unbelievers; for what ^(AK)partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? ¹⁵ Or what ^(AL)harmony has Christ with ^[k]Belial, or ^[l]what has a ^(AM)believer in common with an ^(AN)unbeliever? ¹⁶ Or ^(AO)what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are ^(AP)the temple of ^(AQ)the living God; just as God said,

Paul Reveals His Heart

7 Therefore, having these promises, ^(A)beloved, ^(B)let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

^2 (C)Make room for us in your hearts; we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no one. ³ I do not speak to condemn you, for I have said ^(D)before that you are ^(E)in our hearts to die together and to live together. ⁴ Great is my ^(F)confidence ^[a]in you; great is my ^(G)boasting on your behalf. I am filled with ^(H)comfort; I am overflowing with ^(I)joy in all our affliction.

⁵ For even when we came into ^(J)Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were ^(K)afflicted on every side: ^(L)conflicts without, fears within. ⁶ But ^(M)God, who comforts the ^[b]depressed, ^(N)comforted us by the coming of ^(O)Titus; ⁷ and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced even more. ⁸ For though I ^(P)caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while— ⁹ I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything ^[c]through us. ¹⁰ For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a ^(Q)repentance ^[d]without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. ¹¹ For behold what earnestness this very thing, this ^[e]godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what ^(R)longing, what zeal, what ^(S)avenging of wrong! In everything you ^(T)demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter. ¹² So although ^(U)I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of ^(V)the offender nor for the sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness on our behalf might be made known to you in the sight of God. ¹³ For this reason we have been ^(W)comforted.

And besides our comfort, we rejoiced even much more for the joy of ^(X)Titus, because his ^(Y)spirit has been refreshed by you all. ¹⁴ For if in anything I have ^(Z)boasted to him about you, I was not put to shame; but as we spoke all things to you in truth, so also our boasting before ^(AA)Titus proved to be the truth. ¹⁵ His ^[f]affection abounds all the more toward you, as he remembers the ^(AB)obedience of you all, how you received him with ^(AC)fear and trembling. ¹⁶ I rejoice that in everything ^(AD)I have confidence in you.

Great Generosity

8 Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been ^(A)given in the churches of ^(B)Macedonia, ² that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the ^(C)wealth of their liberality. ³ For I testify that ^(D)according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, ⁴ begging us with much urging for the ^(E)favor ^[a]of participation in the ^[b](F)support of the ^[c]saints, ⁵ and this, not as we had ^[d]expected, but they first ^(G)gave themselves to the Lord and to us by ^(H)the will of God. ⁶ So we ^(I)urged ^(J)Titus that as he had previously ^(K)made a beginning, so he would also complete in you ^(L)this gracious work as well.

⁷ But just as you ^(M)abound ^(N)in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the ^[e]love we inspired in you, see that you ^(O)abound in this gracious work also. ⁸ I ^(P)am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also. ⁹ For you know ^(Q)the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ^(R)though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. ¹⁰ I ^(S)give my opinion in this matter, for this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin ^(T)a year ago not only to do this, but also to desire to do it. ¹¹ But now finish ^[f]doing it also, so that just as there was the ^(U)readiness to desire it, so there may be also the completion of it by your ability. ¹² For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable ^(V)according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. ¹³ For this is not for the ease of others and for your affliction, but by way of equality— ¹⁴ at this present time your abundance being a supply for ^(W)their need, so that their abundance also may become a supply for ^(X)your need, that there may be equality; ¹⁵ as it is written, “^(Y)He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little had no lack.”

¹⁶ But ^(Z)thanks be to God who ^(AA)puts the same earnestness on your behalf in the heart of ^(AB)Titus. ¹⁷ For he not only accepted our ^(AC)appeal, but being himself very earnest, he has gone to you of his own accord. ¹⁸ We have sent along with him ^(AD)the brother whose fame in the things of the ^(AE)gospel has spread through ^(AF)all the churches; ^19 (AG)and not only this, but he has also been ^(AH)appointed by the churches to travel with us in ^(AI)this gracious work, which is being administered by us for the glory of the Lord Himself, and to show our ^(AJ)readiness, ^20 [g]taking precaution so that no one will discredit us in our administration of this generous gift; ²¹ for we ^(AK)have regard for what is honorable, not only in ^(AL)the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. ²² We 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. ²³ As for ^(AM)Titus, he is my ^(AN)partner and fellow worker ^[h]among you; as for our ^(AO)brethren, they are ^[i](AP)messengers of the churches, ^(AQ)a glory to Christ. ²⁴ Therefore ^[j]openly before the churches, ^[k]show them the proof of your love and of our ^(AR)reason for boasting about you.

God Gives Most

9 For ^(A)it is superfluous for me to write to you about this ^(B)ministry to the ^[a]saints; ² for I know your readiness, of which I ^(C)boast about you to the ^(D)Macedonians, namely, that ^(E)Achaia has been prepared since ^(F)last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them. ³ But I have sent the brethren, in order that our ^(G)boasting about you may not be made empty in this case, so that, ^(H)as I was saying, you may be prepared; ⁴ otherwise if any ^(I)Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to speak of you—will be put to shame by this confidence. ⁵ So I thought it necessary to urge the ^(J)brethren that they would go on ahead to you and arrange beforehand your previously promised ^[b](K)bountiful gift, so that the same would be ready as a ^[c](L)bountiful gift and not ^[d](M)affected by covetousness.

⁶ Now this I say, ^(N)he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows ^[e]bountifully will also reap ^[f]bountifully. ⁷ Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not ^(O)grudgingly or under compulsion, for ^(P)God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And ^(Q)God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; ⁹ as it is written,

¹⁰ Now He who supplies ^(S)seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and ^(T)increase the harvest of your righteousness; ¹¹ you will be ^(U)enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing ^(V)thanksgiving to God. ¹² For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying ^(W)the needs of the ^[h]saints, but is also overflowing ^(X)through many thanksgivings to God. ¹³ Because of the proof given by this ^(Y)ministry, they will ^(Z)glorify God for your obedience to your ^(AA)confession of the ^(AB)gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your ^[i]contribution to them and to all, ¹⁴ while they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. ^15 (AC)Thanks be to God for His indescribable ^(AD)gift!