20 We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, 21 for ^hwe aim at what is honorable ⁱnot only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man. 22 And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is ^jmy partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers¹ of the churches, the glory of Christ. 24 So give proof before the churches of your love and of ^kour boasting about you to these men.

1 Now ^lit is superfluous for me to write to you about ^mthe ministry for the saints, 2 for I know your readiness, ⁿof which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready ^osince last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. 3 But ^pI am sending² the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, ^qas I said you would be. 4 Otherwise, if some Macedonians ^rcome with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. 5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the ^sgift³ you have promised, so that it may be ready ^tas a willing gift, ^unot as an exaction.⁴

6 The point is this: ^vwhoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully⁵ will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, ^wnot reluctantly or under compulsion, for ^xGod loves a cheerful giver. 8 And ^yGod is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency⁶ in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written,

10 He who supplies ^aseed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and ^bincrease the harvest of your righteousness. 11 ^cYou will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which ^dthrough us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying ^ethe needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. 13 By their approval of this service, ^fthey⁷ will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your ^gconfession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. 15 ^hThanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

1 ⁱI, Paul, myself entreat you, by the ^jmeekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— 2 I beg of you ^kthat when I am present I may not have to show ^lboldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the ^mweapons of ⁿour warfare are not of the flesh but have ^odivine power ^pto destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and ^qevery lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to ^robey Christ, 6 ^sbeing ready to punish every disobedience, ^twhen your obedience is complete.

7 ^uLook at what is before your eyes. ^vIf anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as ^whe is Christ’s, ^xso also are we. 8 For even if I boast a little too much of ^your authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. 9 I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. 10 For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but ^zhis bodily presence is weak, and ^ahis speech of no account.” 11 Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. 12 Not that we dare to classify or ^bcompare ourselves with some of those who ^care commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are ^dwithout understanding.

13 But we will not boast ^ebeyond limits, but will ^fboast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, ^gto reach even to you. 14 For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. ^hFor we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. 15 We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that ⁱas your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be ^jgreatly enlarged, 16 so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another’s area of influence. 17 “Let ^kthe one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 18 For it is ^lnot the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one ^mwhom the Lord commends.

1 I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since ⁿI betrothed you to one husband, ^oto present you ^pas a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that ^qas the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts ^rwill be led astray from a ^ssincere and ^tpure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and ^uproclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept ^va different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. 5 Indeed, I consider that ^wI am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. 6 ^xEven if I am unskilled in speaking, ^yI am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way ^zwe have made this plain to you in all things.

7 Or ^adid I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because ^bI preached God’s gospel to you free of charge? 8 I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. 9 And when I was with you and was ^cin need, ^dI did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia ^esupplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain ^ffrom burdening you in any way. 10 ^gAs the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine ^hwill not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. 11 And why? ⁱBecause I do not love you? ^jGod knows I do!

12 And what I am doing I will continue to do, ^kin order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. 13 For such men are ^lfalse apostles, ^mdeceitful workmen, ⁿdisguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as ^oan angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as ^pservants of righteousness. ^qTheir end will correspond to their deeds.