Ayamye
1Anuanom, yɛpɛ sɛ muhu nea Onyankopɔn adom ayɛ wɔ Makedonia asafo ahorow no mu. 2Wɔn ahokyere mu no wɔn anigye boroo so, na wɔn hia mu mpo, wuyii ayamye kɛse kyerɛe. 3Midi ho adanse sɛ wɔmaa nea wobetumi ma ɛboroo so mpo. Wɔn ara fii wɔn pɛ mu 4srɛɛ yɛn sɛ yɛmma wɔmfa sika no nkɔma Kristofo a wɔwɔ Yudea no bi. 5Wɔyɛ ma ɛboroo so. Nea edi kan no, wɔde wɔn ho maa Awurade. Afei wofi Onyankopɔn pɛ mu de wɔn ho maa yɛn nso. 6Enti yɛka kyerɛɛ Tito a ofii adwuma yi ase se ɔntoa so na ɔmmoa mo na moatumi awie saa ɔdɔ adwuma yi. 7Moyɛ adefo wɔ nea mowɔ nyinaa mu: ɔkasa mu ne nimdeɛ mu, mmoa a ɛyɛ mo pɛ sɛ moboa ne ɔdɔ a mode dɔ yɛn mu. Enti yɛpɛ sɛ mode ahofama som wɔ ɔdɔ mu.
8Merenhyehyɛ mmara mma mo. Na mmom mepɛ sɛ mede mo dɔ a mowɔ no toto afoforo de ho hwɛ sɛ mo dɔ no yɛ ɔdɔ kann ana. 9Munim adom a na yɛn Awurade Yesu Kristo wɔ. Ɔdefo a na ɔyɛ no nyinaa akyi no, mo nti ɔyɛɛ ne ho ohiani sɛnea ɛbɛyɛ a ɔnam ne hia no so bɛma moayɛ adefo.
10Mʼadwene a mewɔ wɔ asɛm no ho ni: Afe a etwaa mu no, mo na mudii kan fii mo pɛ mu yɛɛ ayɛ. 11Monkɔ so na munnwie dwuma no di. Mommma mo ho mpere mo sɛ mubewie sɛnea mususuwii sɛ mobɛyɛ no. 12Sɛ wo ho pere wo sɛ wobɛma a, Onyankopɔn nam nea wowɔ so begye, na ɛnyɛ nea wunni so.
13Merennye nkurɔfo nnesoa mmegu mo so na mmom, esiane sɛ mowɔ bebree saa bere yi mu no nti, ɛyɛ fɛ sɛ moboa wɔn a wonni bi no. 14Na sɛ ɛba sɛ biribi ho hia mo na sɛ wɔwɔ bi a, wɔaboa mo. Eyi ma mo nyinaa yɛ pɛ. 15Sɛnea Kyerɛwsɛm no ka se, “Onipa a ɔboaboaa dodow ano no annya ammoro so, na nea ɔboaboaa kakraa bi ano no nyaa nea ɛbɛso no.”
16Yɛda Onyankopɔn ase sɛ wama anigye a mewɔ wɔ mo ho no bi awura Tito koma mu. 17Ɛnyɛ sɛ ɔpenee yɛn abisade so nko, na mmom ɔno ankasa fii ne pɛ mu pɛɛ sɛ ɔboa nti na osii nʼadwene pi sɛ ɔbɛba mo nkyɛn no. 18Yɛresoma onua bi a wobu no wɔ asafo ahorow no nyinaa mu wɔ asɛnka adwuma no ho aka ne ho. 19Ɛno akyi no, asafo ahorow no ayi onua yi sɛ ɔne yɛn ntutu akwan wɔ mmere a yɛredi ɔdɔ ho dwuma de ahyɛ Awurade anuonyam yi, na yɛmfa nkyerɛ nso sɛ yɛpɛ sɛ yɛboa. 20Yɛhwɛ yɛn ho so yiye sɛ asɛm biara remma ɔkwan a yɛbɛfa so de saa akyɛde yi adi dwuma no ho. 21Yɛn botae ne sɛ yɛbɛyɛ nea eye wɔ Awurade ne nnipa anim.
22Enti yɛresoma onipa foforo bi aka Tito ne osuani baako no ho. Yɛasɔ no ahwɛ wɔ akwan ahorow bebree so na yɛahu sɛ ɛyɛ ne pɛ sɛ ɔboa. Na mprempren ne ho pere no sɛ ɔbɛboa efisɛ wanya mo mu ahotoso. 23Tito de, ɔyɛ me boafo a ɔne me yɛ adwuma de boa mo, na anuanom a wɔne no rekɔ no de, wɔyɛ asɔre ahorow ananmusifo a wɔhyɛ Kristo anuonyam. 24Momma wonhu ɔdɔ a modɔ wɔn sɛnea ɛbɛyɛ a asafo no nyinaa behu sɛ hoa a yɛde mo hoahoa yɛn ho no yɛ nokware.
Giving Freely to the Lord’s People
1Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given to the churches in Macedonia. 2They have suffered a great deal. But in their suffering, their joy was more than full. Even though they were very poor, they gave very freely. 3I tell you that they gave as much as they could. In fact, they gave even more than they could. Completely on their own, 4they begged us for the chance to share in serving the Lord’s people in that way. 5They did more than we expected. First they gave themselves to the Lord. Then they gave themselves to us because that was what God wanted. 6Titus had already started collecting money from you. So we asked him to help you finish making your kind gift. 7You do well in everything else. You do well in faith and in speaking. You do well in knowledge and in complete commitment. And you do well in the love we have helped to start in you. So make sure that you also do well in the grace of giving to others.
8I am not commanding you to do it. But I want to test you. I want to find out if you really love God. I want to compare your love with that of others. 9You know the grace shown by our Lord Jesus Christ. Even though he was rich, he became poor to help you. Because he became poor, you can become rich.
10Here is my opinion about what is best for you in that matter. Last year you were the first to give. You were also the first to want to give. 11So finish the work. Then your desire to do it will be matched by your finishing it. Give on the basis of what you have. 12Do you really want to give? Then the gift is measured by what someone has. It is not measured by what they don’t have.
13We don’t want others to have it easy at your expense. We want things to be equal. 14Right now you have plenty in order to take care of what they need. Then they will have plenty to take care of what you need. The goal is to even things out. 15It is written, “The one who gathered a lot didn’t have too much. And the one who gathered a little had enough.” (Exodus 16:18)
Paul Sends Titus to Corinth to Receive the Offering
16God put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. Thanks should be given to God for this. 17Titus welcomed our appeal. He is also excited about coming to you. It was his own idea. 18Along with Titus, we are sending another brother. All the churches praise him for his service in telling the good news. 19He was also chosen by the churches to go with us as we bring the offering. We are in charge of it. We want to honor the Lord himself. We want to show how ready we are to help. 20We want to keep anyone from blaming us for how we take care of that large gift. 21We are trying hard to do what both the Lord and people think is right.
22We are also sending another one of our brothers with them. He has often proved to us in many ways that he is very committed. He is now even more committed because he has great faith in you. 23Titus is my helper. He and I work together among you. Our brothers are messengers from the churches. They honor Christ. 24So show them that you really love them. Show them why we are proud of you. Then the churches can see it.
