2 Corinthiens 8
1 Au reste, mes frères, nous voulons vous faire connaître la grâce que Dieu a faite aux Églises de Macédoine.
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].
2 C'est qu'au milieu de leur grande épreuve d'affliction, leur joie a été augmentée, et que leur profonde pauvreté s'est répandue en richesses par leur prompte libéralité.
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].
3 Car je suis témoin qu'ils ont été volontaires [à donner] selon leur pouvoir, et même au delà de leur pouvoir.
[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],
4 Nous pressant avec de grandes prières de recevoir la grâce et la communication de cette contribution en faveur des Saints:
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].
5 Et ils n'ont pas fait seulement comme nous l'avions espéré, mais ils se sont donnés premièrement eux-mêmes au Seigneur, et puis à nous, par la volonté de Dieu.
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].
6 Afin que nous exhortassions Tite, que comme il avait auparavant commencé, il achevât aussi cette grâce envers vous.
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.
7 C'est pourquoi comme vous abondez en toutes choses, en foi, en parole, en connaissance, en toute diligence, et en la charité que vous avez pour nous, faites que vous abondiez aussi en cette grâce.
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].
8 Je ne le dis point par commandement, mais pour éprouver aussi par la diligence des autres la sincérité de votre charité.
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.
9 Car vous connaissez la grâce de notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ, qui étant riche, s'est rendu pauvre pour vous; afin que par sa pauvreté vous fussiez rendus riches.
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.
10 Et en cela je vous donne cet avis, parce qu'il vous est convenable, qu'ayant non seulement déjà commencé d'agir [pour cette Collecte], mais en ayant même eu la volonté dès l'année passée;
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].
11 Vous acheviez maintenant de la faire; afin que comme vous avez été prompts à en avoir la volonté; vous l'accomplissiez aussi selon votre pouvoir.
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.
12 Car si la promptitude de la volonté précède, on est agréable selon ce qu'on a, et non point selon ce qu'on n'a pas.
[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.
13 Or ce n'est pas afin que les autres soient soulagés, et que vous soyez foulés; mais afin que ce soit par égalité.
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].
14 Que votre abondance donc supplée maintenant à leur indigence, afin que leur abondance serve aussi à votre indigence, et qu'ainsi il y ait de l'égalité.
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).
15 Selon ce qui est écrit: celui qui [avait] beaucoup, n'a rien eu de superflu; et celui qui avait peu, n'en a pas eu moins.
[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].
16 Or grâces [soient rendues] à Dieu qui a mis le même soin pour vous au cœur de Tite;
[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.
17 Lequel a fort bien reçu mon exhortation, et étant lui-même fort affectionné, il s'en est allé vers vous de son propre mouvement.
[He is going there], not only because we urged him to go, but because he himself is very eager [to visit you again].
18 Et nous avons aussi envoyé avec lui le frère dont la louange, qu'il s'est acquise dans la prédication de l'Évangile est répandue par toutes les Églises:
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].
19 (Et non seulement cela, mais aussi il a été établi par les Églises notre compagnon de voyage, pour cette grâce qui est administrée par nous à la gloire du Seigneur même, [et pour servir] à la promptitude de votre zèle.)
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].
20 Nous donnant garde que personne ne nous reprenne dans cette abondance qui est administrée par nous.
[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].
21 Et procurant ce qui est bon, non seulement devant le Seigneur, mais aussi devant les hommes.
[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.
22 Nous avons envoyé aussi avec eux notre [autre] frère, que nous avons souvent éprouvé en plusieurs choses être diligent, et maintenant encore beaucoup plus diligent, à cause de la grande confiance [qu'il a] en vous.
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].
23 Ainsi donc quant à Tite, il [est] mon associé et mon compagnon d'œuvre envers vous; et quant à nos frères, ils [sont] les envoyés des Églises, et la gloire de Christ.
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].
24 Montrez donc envers eux et devant les Églises une preuve de votre charité, et du sujet que nous avons de nous glorifier de vous.
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.
