2 Corinthians 8:1-2

Completing the Collection for the Saints

8:1 Now we make known to you, brothers and sisters,¹ the grace of God given to the churches of Macedonia, 8:2 that during a severe ordeal of suffering, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in the wealth² of their generosity.

2 Corinthians 9:10

9:10 Now God³ who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your supply of seed and will cause the harvest of your righteousness to grow.

2 Corinthians 9:1

Preparing the Gift

9:1 For it is not necessary⁴ for me to write you about this service⁵ to the saints,

2 Corinthians 4:1-2

Paul’s Perseverance in Ministry

4:1 Therefore, since we have this ministry, just as God has shown us mercy,⁶ we do not become discouraged.⁷ 4:2 But we have rejected⁸ shameful hidden deeds,⁹ not behaving¹⁰ with deceptiveness¹¹ or distorting the word of God, but by open proclamation of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience before God.

2 Corinthians 1:5-8

1:5 For just as the sufferings¹² of Christ¹³ overflow¹⁴ toward us, so also our comfort through Christ overflows to you.¹⁵ 1:6 But if we are afflicted,¹⁶ it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort that you experience in your patient endurance of the same sufferings that we also suffer. 1:7 And our hope for you is steadfast because we know that as you share in¹⁷ our sufferings, so also you will share in¹⁸ our comfort. 1:8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,¹⁹ regarding the affliction that happened to us in the province of Asia,²⁰ that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of living.

2 Corinthians 3:18

3:18 And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord,²¹ are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another,²² which is from²³ the Lord, who is the Spirit.²⁴

¹tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:8.

²tn Or “riches.”

³tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴tn Or “it is superfluous.”

⁵tn Or “this ministry,” “this contribution.”

⁶tn Grk “just as we have been shown mercy”; ἠλεήθημεν (hlehqhmen) has been translated as a “divine passive” which is a circumlocution for God as the active agent. For clarity this was converted to an active construction with God as subject in the translation.

⁷tn Or “we do not lose heart.”

⁸tn L&N 13.156; the word can also mean “to assert opposition to,” thus here “we have denounced” (L&N 33.220).

⁹tn Grk “the hidden things [deeds] of shame”; here αἰσχύνης (aiscunh") has been translated as an attributive genitive.

¹⁰tn Or “not conducting ourselves”; Grk “not walking” (a common NT idiom for conduct, way of life, or behavior).

¹¹tn Or “craftiness.”

¹²tn This Greek word translated “sufferings” here (πάθημα, paqhma) is a different one than the one Paul uses for his own afflictions/persecutions (θλῖψις, qliyi") in v. 4.

¹³tn I.e., suffering incurred by Paul as a consequence of his relationship to Christ. The genitive could be considered to have a causative nuance here.

¹⁴tn Traditionally, “abound” (here and throughout this section).

¹⁵tn The words “to you” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the statements in the following verse.

¹⁶tn Or “are troubled.”

¹⁷tn Grk “as you are sharers in.”

¹⁸tn Grk “will be sharers in.”

¹⁹tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1., where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

²⁰tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.

²¹tn Or “we all with unveiled faces beholding the glory of the Lord as in a mirror.”

²²tn Grk “from glory to glory.”

²³tn Grk “just as from.”

²⁴tn Grk “from the Lord, the Spirit”; the genitive πνεύματος (pneumato") has been translated as a genitive of apposition.