Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, together with all the saints who are throughout Achaia:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation,
who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.
For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ.
If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.
Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so you also share in our consolation.
For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly, unbearably afflicted that we despaired of life itself.
Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again,
as you also help us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
And for this reason, we have been comforted. But we want you to know, brothers and sisters, of the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia,
that during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means,
begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints—
and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.
So we urged Titus, that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace.
But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you—so we want you to excel also in this act of grace.
I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others.
For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something—
now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means.
For if the eagerness is there, it is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.
For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened,
but it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance.
As it is written, “The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.”
Thanks be to God who puts the same earnestness for you into the heart of Titus.
For he accepted our appeal, but being more earnest, he is going to you.
And we have sent along with him the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel.
And not only that, but he was also appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being administered by us for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our readiness.
So give proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting on your behalf.
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