2 ቆሮንቶስ 8 – NASV & NIRV

New Amharic Standard Version

2 ቆሮንቶስ 8:1-24

የልግስና አስፈላጊነት

1ወንድሞች ሆይ፤ እግዚአብሔር በመቄዶንያ ላሉት አብያተ ክርስቲያናት የሰጠውን ጸጋ እንድታውቁ እንፈልጋለን። 2የደረሰባቸው መከራ ጽኑ ቢሆንም ደስታቸው ግን የላቀ ነበር፤ ድኽነታቸው ብርቱ ቢሆንም ልግስናቸው ግን የበዛ ነበር። 3እንደ ዐቅማቸው ብቻ ሳይሆን፣ ከዐቅማቸው በላይ በፈቃዳቸው እንደ ሰጡ እመሰክርላቸዋለሁ። 4እነርሱም ቅዱሳንን ለመርዳት በሚደረገው አገልግሎት ለመሳተፍ ዕድል ያገኙ ዘንድ አጥብቀው ይለምኑን ነበር። 5እኛ ከጠበቅነው በላይ፣ በመጀመሪያ ራሳቸውን ለጌታ ሰጡ፤ ቀጥለውም በእግዚአብሔር ፈቃድ ራሳቸውን ለእኛ ሰጡ። 6ስለዚህ ቲቶ፣ በእናንተ መካከል ቀደም ሲል የጀመረውን የልግስና ሥራ ከፍጻሜ እንዲያደርስ ለምነነው ነበር። 7እናንተም በሁሉ ነገር ይኸውም በእምነት፣ በቃል፣ በዕውቀት፣ በፍጹም ትጋትና ለእኛም ባላችሁ ፍቅር8፥7 አንዳንድ ቅጆች ለእናንተ ባለን ፍቅር ይላሉ ልቃችሁ እንደ ተገኛችሁ፣ በዚህም የቸርነት ሥራ ልቃችሁ እንድትገኙ ዐደራ እንላችኋለን።

8ይህን የምለው ትእዛዝ ለመስጠት ብዬ አይደለም፤ ነገር ግን ሌሎች ከሚያሳዩት ትጋት አንጻር የፍቅራችሁን እውነተኛነት ለማረጋገጥ ነው። 9የጌታችንን የኢየሱስ ክርስቶስን ጸጋ ታውቃላችሁና፤ በእርሱ ድኽነት እናንተ ባለጠጎች ትሆኑ ዘንድ እርሱ ሀብታም ሆኖ ሳለ ለእናንተ ሲል ድኻ ሆነ።

10ስለዚህ ጕዳይ የምሰጣችሁ ጠቃሚ ምክር ይህ ነው፤ ባለፈው ዓመት በመስጠት ብቻ ሳይሆን ለመስጠት በማሰብም ቀዳሚ ነበራችሁ፤ 11አሁንም የጀመራችሁትን ተግባር በዐቅማችሁ መጠን ከፍጻሜ አድርሱት፤ ይህም ለመስጠት የነበራችሁ በጎ ፈቃድ እውን እንዲሆን ነው። 12ለመስጠት በጎ ፈቃድ ካለን ስጦታው ተቀባይነት የሚያገኘው ባለን መጠን ስንሰጥ እንጂ፣ በሌለን መጠን ለመስጠት ስንሞክር አይደለም።

13ይህን የምንለው እናንተ ተቸግራችሁ ሌሎች ይድላቸው ለማለት ሳይሆን፣ ሁላችሁም እኩል እንድትሆኑ ነው። 14በአሁኑ ጊዜ የእናንተ ትርፍ የእነርሱን ጕድለት ያሟላል፤ የእነርሱም ደግሞ በተራው የእናንተን ጕድለት ያሟላል፤ በዚህም ያላችሁን እኩል ትካፈላላችሁ። 15ይህም፣ “ብዙ የሰበሰበ አላተረፈም፤ ጥቂት የሰበሰበም አልጐደለበትም” ተብሎ እንደ ተጻፈው ነው።

ቲቶ ወደ ቆሮንቶስ ተላከ

16እኔ ለእናንተ ያለኝን በጎ ሐሳብ በቲቶ ልብ ውስጥ ያኖረ አምላክ የተመሰገነ ይሁን፤ 17ምክንያቱም ቲቶ ወደ እናንተ የመጣው ልመናችንን በመቀበል ብቻ ሳይሆን፣ በታላቅ ጕጕትና በራሱ ፈቃድ በመነሣሣት ነበር። 18ከእርሱም ጋር በወንጌል ስብከት በአብያተ ክርስቲያናት ሁሉ የተመሰገነውን ወንድም ልከነዋል። 19ከዚህም በላይ ስጦታውን በምንወስድበት ጊዜ አብሮን እንዲሄድ በአብያተ ክርስቲያናት ተመርጧል፤ ስጦታውንም የምንወስደው ጌታን ራሱን ለማክበርና ሌሎችን ለመርዳት ካለን በጎ ፈቃድ የተነሣ ነው። 20በዚህ በምናከናውነው የቸርነት ሥራ አንዳች ነቀፋ እንዳይገኝብን እንጠነቀቃለን። 21ምክንያቱም ዐላማችን በጌታ ፊት ብቻ ሳይሆን፣ በሰውም ፊት መልካም የሆነውን ነገር ማድረግ ነው።

22ደግሞም ብዙ ጊዜ በብዙ መንገድ ተፈትኖ ትጉ ሆኖ የተገኘውን ወንድማችንን ከእነርሱ ጋር ልከነዋል፤ አሁንም በእናንተ እጅግ ከመታመኑ የተነሣ ከመቼውም ጊዜ ይልቅ እየተጋ ነው። 23ስለ ቲቶ የሚጠይቅ ቢኖር፣ እርሱ እናንተን ለማገልገል አብሮኝ የሚሠራ ባልደረባዬ ነው፤ ስለ ወንድሞቻችንም የሚጠይቅ ቢኖር እነርሱ የአብያተ ክርስቲያናት ተወካዮችና የክርስቶስ ክብር ናቸው። 24ስለዚህ የፍቅራችሁን እውነተኛነትና በእናንተም የምንታመነው የቱን ያህል እንደ ሆነ በአብያተ ክርስቲያናት ፊት ግለጡላቸው።

New International Reader’s Version

2 Corinthians 8:1-24

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.