2 Corinthians 8

1 Now, my fellow believers, I want to tell you [what happened because of] God’s [acting] kindly [in the lives] of [the believers in] the congregations [here] in Macedonia [province].

Γνωρίζομεν δὲ ὑμῖν, ἀδελφοί, τὴν χάριν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν δεδομένην ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις τῆς Μακεδονίας,

2 Even though [the non-believers here] have been causing the believers to suffer severely, the believers are always very joyful. [Although they] are very poor, [they gave] very generously [to help other believers].

ὅτι ἐν πολλῇ δοκιμῇ θλίψεως ἡ περισσεία τῆς χαρᾶς αὐτῶν καὶ ἡ κατὰ βάθους πτωχεία αὐτῶν ἐπερίσσευσεν εἰς τὸ πλοῦτος τῆς ἁπλότητος αὐτῶν·

3 [I know that this is true], because I have seen for myself that they not only gave [money] [EUP] that they were able [to give], they gave [so much money that they did] not even keep enough [to buy what they needed for themselves]. Without anyone telling them [to share their possessions],

ὅτι κατὰ δύναμιν, μαρτυρῶ, καὶ παρὰ δύναμιν, αὐθαίρετοι

4 they themselves kept requesting us to let them participate in what [other believers] are doing in [sending a gift of money to] [EUP] God’s people [in Judea province].

μετὰ πολλῆς παρακλήσεως δεόμενοι ἡμῶν, τὴν χάριν καὶ τὴν κοινωνίαν τῆς διακονίας τῆς εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους,

5 I thought [that they would give only a little of their money, but] they did much [more than that]. First, they told the Lord [Jesus] that they wanted to do [what pleases him. After that, they told] me that they wanted to do [whatever I thought was good for them to do, because they were sure that] would be what God [wanted them to do].

καὶ οὐ καθὼς ἠλπίσαμεν, ἀλλὰ ἑαυτοὺς ἔδωκαν πρῶτον τῷ Κυρίῳ καὶ ἡμῖν διὰ θελήματος Θεοῦ,

6 So, because Titus was the one who [helped you to] begin [gathering the money] [EUP, MTY] for your gift, I urged him to also [help you] finish [collecting the rest of] your generous and loving gift.

εἰς τὸ παρακαλέσαι ἡμᾶς Τίτον, ἵνα καθὼς προενήρξατο οὕτως καὶ ἐπιτελέσῃ εἰς ὑμᾶς καὶ τὴν χάριν ταύτην.

7 You are doing very well in so many [other] ways. [God’s Spirit enables you to] believe that [God] will [do miracles. His Spirit has given you the ability to] tell [God’s message to others. His Spirit makes you able to] know things that he reveals to you. You eagerly [want to help people], and you love us [(exc)] very much. [So now], try to also do well in getting your generous [gift of money] [EUP] [ready to send to the believers in Judea province].

ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ ἐν παντὶ περισσεύετε, πίστει καὶ λόγῳ καὶ γνώσει καὶ πάσῃ σπουδῇ καὶ τῇ ἐξ ἡμῶν ἐν ὑμῖν ἀγάπῃ, ἵνα καὶ ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ χάριτι περισσεύητε.

8 I am not commanding you [to do this]. But [because I have seen how believers in] other [places] are eager [to help other believers who do not have] ([what they need/enough to live on]), I want you similarly to show that you love others sincerely.

Οὐ κατ’ ἐπιταγὴν λέγω ἀλλὰ διὰ τῆς ἑτέρων σπουδῆς καὶ τὸ τῆς ὑμετέρας ἀγάπης γνήσιον δοκιμάζων·

9 You already know [how much] our Lord Jesus [did for you] that you did not deserve. Everything [in heaven] belonged to him. But in order to benefit you, [he left all of those things behind and became a human being. Here on earth he had] very few possessions [of his own]. But because he became poor like that, he is [able to cause] you [(pl)] to become [spiritually] rich.

γινώσκετε γὰρ τὴν χάριν τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅτι δι’ ὑμᾶς ἐπτώχευσεν πλούσιος ὤν, ἵνα ὑμεῖς τῇ ἐκείνου πτωχείᾳ πλουτήσητε.

10 So, [as you think of our Lord’s example, I will tell you] what I think that you should do in this matter [of giving money. As you know], last year, because you desired [to give money to help God’s people in Judea province], you began [collecting money] [EUP].

καὶ γνώμην ἐν τούτῳ δίδωμι· τοῦτο γὰρ ὑμῖν συμφέρει, οἵτινες οὐ μόνον τὸ ποιῆσαι ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ θέλειν προενήρξασθε ἀπὸ πέρυσι·

11 So now you should finish [collecting] the money [EUP] that you began [to gather]. In that way, [everyone will know that you are just] as ready to finish [collecting this gift] as you were to begin collecting it. Give what you are able to give.

νυνὶ δὲ καὶ τὸ ποιῆσαι ἐπιτελέσατε, ὅπως καθάπερ ἡ προθυμία τοῦ θέλειν, οὕτως καὶ τὸ ἐπιτελέσαι ἐκ τοῦ ἔχειν.

12 [Keep in mind that] if you really want to [give something to help others], whatever any one of you is [able to give] will be pleasing [to God. God does not expect his people to give more] than they can afford to give.

εἰ γὰρ ἡ προθυμία πρόκειται, καθὸ ἐὰν ἔχῃ εὐπρόσδεκτος, οὐ καθὸ οὐκ ἔχει.

13 I do not mean that [you should give so much to help others that] you yourselves do not have what you need. No, what I want is that [both you and others] will have what [you need].

οὐ γὰρ ἵνα ἄλλοις ἄνεσις, ὑμῖν θλῖψις· ἀλλ’ ἐξ ἰσότητος

14 Right now, when you have (more [than you need/] ) and [the believers in Judea] do not have (enough/all that they need), [with your gift you will enable them to have enough. Maybe some day] when you do not have (enough/all that you need) and they have more than they need, they will [be able to] help you. Then everyone will have enough (OR, In that way each will share alike).

ἐν τῷ νῦν καιρῷ τὸ ὑμῶν περίσσευμα εἰς τὸ ἐκείνων ὑστέρημα, ἵνα καὶ τὸ ἐκείνων περίσσευμα γένηται εἰς τὸ ὑμῶν ὑστέρημα, ὅπως γένηται ἰσότης,

15 [If that happens, the result will be like it is written] {[like someone/Moses] wrote} [in the Scriptures about the time when God provided manna for his people], If someone gathered a lot [of manna], he still did not have more than he needed, [because he gave some to someone who did not have enough]. And those who gathered only a little [manna] still had all that they needed [LIT], [because others who gathered more than they needed gave some manna to them].

καθὼς γέγραπται Ὁ τὸ πολὺ οὐκ ἐπλεόνασεν, καὶ ὁ τὸ ὀλίγον οὐκ ἠλαττόνησεν.

16 [So now I am sending Titus to visit you again]. God has caused him to be just as eager [to help you prepare your gift] as I am. I thank God for that.

Χάρις δὲ τῷ Θεῷ τῷ διδόντι τὴν αὐτὴν σπουδὴν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ Τίτου,

17 [He is going there], not only because we urged him to go, but because he himself is very eager [to visit you again].

ὅτι τὴν μὲν παράκλησιν ἐδέξατο, σπουδαιότερος δὲ ὑπάρχων αὐθαίρετος ἐξῆλθεν πρὸς ὑμᾶς.

18 I am sending with Titus another believer [whom you know well]. All the groups of believers [in this area] think highly of him because he has [faithfully taught] the good message [about Christ].

συνεπέμψαμεν δὲ μετ’ αὐτοῦ τὸν ἀδελφὸν οὗ ὁ ἔπαινος ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ διὰ πασῶν τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν,

19 Not only that, but he was appointed by the congregations [in this area] {the congregations [in this area] appointed him} to [go] to Jerusalem with us [(exc)]. He [will go] with us [when we take] the generous gift of money [EUP] [to the believers in Jerusalem. We are taking this] gift to honor the Lord [Jesus] and to show them that we all [very much] want to [help them].

οὐ μόνον δὲ ἀλλὰ καὶ χειροτονηθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν συνέκδημος ἡμῶν ἐν τῇ χάριτι ταύτῃ τῇ διακονουμένῃ ὑφ’ ἡμῶν πρὸς τὴν αὐτοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου δόξαν καὶ προθυμίαν ἡμῶν,

20 [The believers have] given money [EUP] generously. So, [by sending that fellow believer along with Titus] to take the money [to Jerusalem], we are trying to make sure that no one will be able to accuse us [(exc) of taking some of the money for ourselves].

στελλόμενοι τοῦτο, μή τις ἡμᾶς μωμήσηται ἐν τῇ ἁδρότητι ταύτῃ τῇ διακονουμένῃ ὑφ’ ἡμῶν·

21 [I say that] because we [(exc)] want to make sure that the Lord [God] will see that what we [(exc)] do is right, and other people will see it, too.

προνοοῦμεν γὰρ καλὰ οὐ μόνον ἐνώπιον Κυρίου ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐνώπιον ἀνθρώπων.

22 Furthermore, there is also another believer [here] whom we are sending [to you along with the two] men [whom I have just mentioned]. Many times I have seen his good work [for the Lord], and I know that he is eager [to serve the Lord]. Now, because he knows for sure that you [want to give this gift the same as other believers do], he is even more eager than he was before [to go with the two other men].

συνεπέμψαμεν δὲ αὐτοῖς τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἡμῶν, ὃν ἐδοκιμάσαμεν ἐν πολλοῖς πολλάκις σπουδαῖον ὄντα, νυνὶ δὲ πολὺ σπουδαιότερον πεποιθήσει πολλῇ τῇ εἰς ὑμᾶς.

23 As for Titus, [I have chosen him because] he is my partner, and he has worked faithfully with me [to help you]. As for the other two men, the congregations [in this area] are sending them as their messengers. These two men honor Christ [by everything they do].

εἴτε ὑπὲρ Τίτου, κοινωνὸς ἐμὸς καὶ εἰς ὑμᾶς συνεργός· εἴτε ἀδελφοὶ ἡμῶν, ἀπόστολοι ἐκκλησιῶν, δόξα Χριστοῦ.

24 So then, show them that you truly love [others], and [in that way] help other congregations to understand [why] we [(exc)] are always saying such good things about you.

τὴν οὖν ἔνδειξιν τῆς ἀγάπης ὑμῶν καὶ ἡμῶν καυχήσεως ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν εἰς αὐτοὺς ἐνδεικνύμενοι εἰς πρόσωπον τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν.