| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the churches of Macedonia. | 1Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. |
| 2In the terrible ordeal they suffered, their abundant joy and deep poverty overflowed into rich generosity. | 2They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity. |
| 3For I testify that they gave according to their ability and even beyond it. Of their own accord, | 3For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. |
| 4they earnestly pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. | 4They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem. |
| 5And not only did they do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us, because it was the will of God. | 5They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do. |
| 6So we urged Titus to help complete your act of grace, just as he had started it. | 6So we have urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the first place, to return to you and encourage you to finish this ministry of giving. |
| 7But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness, and in the love we inspired in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. | 7Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us —I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving. |
| 8I am not making a demand, but I am testing the sincerity of your love in comparison to the earnestness of others. | 8I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches. |
| 9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. | 9You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich. |
| 10And this is my opinion about what is helpful for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give, but even to have such a desire. | 10Here is my advice: It would be good for you to finish what you started a year ago. Last year you were the first who wanted to give, and you were the first to begin doing it. |
| 11Now finish the work, so that you may complete it just as eagerly as you began, according to your means. | 11Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Give in proportion to what you have. |
| 12For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have. | 12Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. |
| 13It is not our intention that others may be relieved while you are burdened, but that there may be equality. | 13Of course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there should be some equality. |
| 14At the present time, your surplus will meet their need, so that in turn their surplus will meet your need. Then there will be equality. | 14Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. In this way, things will be equal. |
| 15As it is written: “He who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall.” | 15As the Scriptures say, “Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough.” Titus and His Companions |
| 16But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same devotion I have for you. | 16But thank God! He has given Titus the same enthusiasm for you that I have. |
| 17For not only did he welcome our appeal, but he is eagerly coming to you of his own volition. | 17Titus welcomed our request that he visit you again. In fact, he himself was very eager to go and see you. |
| 18Along with Titus we are sending the brother who is praised by all the churches for his work in the gospel. | 18We are also sending another brother with Titus. All the churches praise him as a preacher of the Good News. |
| 19More than that, this brother was chosen by the churches to accompany us with the offering—the gracious gift we administer to honor the Lord Himself and to show our eagerness to help. | 19He was appointed by the churches to accompany us as we take the offering to Jerusalem —a service that glorifies the Lord and shows our eagerness to help. |
| 20We hope to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this generous gift. | 20We are traveling together to guard against any criticism for the way we are handling this generous gift. |
| 21For we are taking great care to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of men. | 21We are careful to be honorable before the Lord, but we also want everyone else to see that we are honorable. |
| 22And we are sending along with them our brother whose earnestness has been proven many times and in many ways, and now even more so by his great confidence in you. | 22We are also sending with them another of our brothers who has proven himself many times and has shown on many occasions how eager he is. He is now even more enthusiastic because of his great confidence in you. |
| 23As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you. As for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, to the glory of Christ. | 23If anyone asks about Titus, say that he is my partner who works with me to help you. And the brothers with him have been sent by the churches, and they bring honor to Christ. |
| 24In full view of the churches, then, show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our boasting about you. | 24So show them your love, and prove to all the churches that our boasting about you is justified. |
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