| 9 | 2 Corinthians | ||
| 1 | About the provision of aid for God's people, it is superfluous for me to write to you. | The Offering for the Saints 2Cor.9.1-15 | |
| 2 | I know how eager you are to help; I speak of it with pride to the Macedonians: I tell them that Achaia had everything ready last year; and most of them have been fired by your zeal. | ||
| 3 | My purpose in sending these friends is to ensure that what we have said about you in this matter should not prove to be an empty boast. By that I mean, I want you to be prepared, as I told them you were; | ||
| 4 | for if I bring with me men from Macedonia and they find you are not prepared, what a disgrace it will be to us, let alone to you, after all the confidence we have shown! | ||
| 5 | I have accordingly thought it necessary to ask these friends to go on ahead to Corinth, to see that your promised bounty is in order before I come; it will then be awaiting me as a bounty indeed, and not as an extortion. | ||
| 6 | Remember: sparse sowing, sparse reaping; sow bountifully, and you will reap bountifully. | ||
| 7 | Each person should give as he has decided for himself; there should be no reluctance, no sense of compulsion; God loves a cheerful giver. | - for God loves a cheerful giver. 2Cor.9.7 - Pr.22.8 | |
| 8 | And it is in God's power to provide you richly with every good gift; thus you will have ample means in yourselves to meet each and every situation, with enough and to spare for every good cause. | ||
| 9 | Scripture says of such a man: 'He has lavished his gifts on the needy, his benevolence stands fast for ever.' | - He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor 2Cor.9.9 - Ps.112.9 | |
| 10 | Now he who provides seed for sowing and bread for food will provide the seed for you to sow; he will multiply it and swell the harvest of your benevolence, | ||
| 11 | and you will always be rich enough to be generous. Through our action such generosity will issue in thanksgiving to God, | ||
| 12 | for as a piece of willing service this is not only a contribution towards the needs of God's people; more than that, it overflows in a flood of thanksgiving to God. | ||
| 13 | For through the proof which this affords, many will give honour to God when they see how humbly you obey him and how faithfully you confess the gospel of Christ; and will thank him for your liberal contribution to their need and to the general good. | ||
| 14 | And as they join in prayer on your behalf, their hearts will go out to you because of the richness of the grace which God has imparted to you. | ||
| 15 | Thanks be to God for his gift beyond words! | ||
| << | 2Cor:9 | | |||
|---|---|---|---|