1. We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God granted to the churches of Macedonia:
2. During a severe testing by affliction, their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed into the wealth of their generosity.
3. I testify that, on their own, according to their ability and beyond their ability,
4. they begged us insistently for the privilege of sharing in the ministry to the saints,
5. and not just as we had hoped. Instead, they gave themselves especially to the Lord, then to us by God’s will.
6. So we urged Titus that just as he had begun, so he should also complete this grace to you.
7. Now as you excel in everything — faith, speech, knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love for us — excel also in this grace.
8. I am not saying this as a command. Rather, by means of the diligence of others, I am testing the genuineness of your love.
9. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though He was rich, for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich.
10. Now I am giving an opinion on this because it is profitable for you, who a year ago began not only to do something but also to desire it.