Parallel Bible results for "2 corinthians 8"

2 Corinthians 8

The Bible in Basic English BBE

1 And now we give you news, brothers, about the grace of God which has been given to the churches of Macedonia;

2 How while they were undergoing every sort of trouble, and were in the greatest need, they took all the greater joy in being able to give freely to the needs of others.

3 For I give them witness, that as they were able, and even more than they were able, they gave from the impulse of their hearts,

4 Seriously requesting us that they might have a part in this grace of being servants to the needs of the saints:

5 And going even farther than our hope, they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us after the purpose of God.

6 So that we made a request to Titus that, as he had made a start before, so he might make this grace complete in you.

7 And that as you are full of every good thing, of faith, of the word, of knowledge, of a ready mind, and of love to us, so you may be full of this grace in the same way.

8 I am not giving you an order, but using the ready mind of others as a test of the quality of your love.

9 For you see the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how though he had wealth, he became poor on your account, so that through his need you might have wealth.

10 And in this I give my opinion: for it is to your profit, who were the first to make a start a year before, not only to do this, but to make clear that your minds were more than ready to do it.

11 Then make the doing of it complete; so that as you had a ready mind, you may give effect to it as you are able.

12 For if there is a ready mind, a man will have God's approval in the measure of what he has, and not of what he has not.

13 And I am not saying this so that others may get off free, while the weight comes on you:

14 But so that things may be equal; that from those things of which you have more than enough at the present time their need may be helped, and that if you are in any need they may be a help to you in the same way, making things equal.

15 As it says in the Writings, He who had taken up much had nothing over and he who had little had enough.

16 But praise be to God, who puts the same care for you into the heart of Titus.

17 For while he gladly gave ear to our request, he was interested enough to go to you from the impulse of his heart.

18 And with him we have sent a brother whose praise in the good news has gone through all the churches;

19 And not only so, but he was marked out by the churches to go with us in the grace of this giving which we have undertaken to the glory of the Lord and to make clear that our mind was ready:

20 And so that no man might be able to say anything against us in the business of this giving which has been put into our hands:

21 For the business has been so ordered by us as to have the approval, not only of the Lord, but of men.

22 And we have sent with them our brother, whose ready spirit has been made clear to us at times and in ways without number, but it is now all the more so because of the certain faith which he has in you.

23 If any question comes up about Titus, he is my brother-worker, working with me for you; or about the others, they are the representatives of the churches to the glory of Christ.

24 Make clear then to them, as representatives of the churches, the quality of your love, and that the things which we have said about you are true.

Good News Translation GNT

1 Our friends, we want you to know what God's grace has accomplished in the churches in Macedonia.

2 They have been severely tested by the troubles they went through; but their joy was so great that they were extremely generous in their giving, even though they are very poor.

3 I can assure you that they gave as much as they could, and even more than they could. Of their own free will

4 they begged us and pleaded for the privilege of having a part in helping God's people in Judea.

5 It was more than we could have hoped for! First they gave themselves to the Lord; and then, by God's will they gave themselves to us as well.

6 So we urged Titus, who began this work, to continue it and help you complete this special service of love.

7 You are so rich in all you have: in faith, speech, and knowledge, in your eagerness to help and in your love for us. And so we want you to be generous also in this service of love.

8 I am not laying down any rules. But by showing how eager others are to help, I am trying to find out how real your own love is.

9 You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; rich as he was, he made himself poor for your sake, in order to make you rich by means of his poverty.

10 My opinion is that it is better for you to finish now what you began last year. You were the first, not only to act, but also to be willing to act.

11 On with it, then, and finish the job! Be as eager to finish it as you were to plan it, and do it with what you now have.

12 If you are eager to give, God will accept your gift on the basis of what you have to give, not on what you don't have.

13 I am not trying to relieve others by putting a burden on you; but since you have plenty at this time, it is only fair that you should help those who are in need. Then, when you are in need and they have plenty, they will help you. In this way both are treated equally.

15 As the scripture says, "The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little."

16 How we thank God for making Titus as eager as we are to help you!

17 Not only did he welcome our request; he was so eager to help that of his own free will he decided to go to you.

18 With him we are sending the brother who is highly respected in all the churches for his work in preaching the gospel.

19 And besides that, he has been chosen and appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this service of love for the sake of the Lord's glory and in order to show that we want to help.

20 We are being careful not to stir up any complaints about the way we handle this generous gift.

21 Our purpose is to do what is right, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of others.

22 So we are sending our brother with them; we have tested him many times and found him always very eager to help. And now that he has so much confidence in you, he is all the more eager to help.

23 As for Titus, he is my partner and works with me to help you; as for the other brothers who are going with him, they represent the churches and bring glory to Christ.

24 Show your love to them, so that all the churches will be sure of it and know that we are right in boasting about you.