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| 9 | 2 Corinthians |
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| 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.
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| 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!
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