Atlas Biblica

    2 Corinthians · 15 verses

    2 Corinthians 9

    Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.

    The chapter

    What happens here

    Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

    A gift may be cheerful, generous, and still require an advance party, lest confidence turn into shame.

    The gift must be readyvv. 1–5

    The service to the saints begins with a splendid contradiction: there is supposedly no need to write about it, followed by a careful letter about it. The speaker has been boasting to the Macedonians about Achaia’s readiness since last year, so brothers are sent ahead to make certain the promised generosity exists in the material world. Otherwise, a procession of confident people may arrive to discover an awkwardly empty stage.

    Cheerful, not corneredvv. 6–10

    The practical arrangements give way to the famous arithmetic of sowing and reaping: sparingly in, sparingly out; generously in, generously out. Yet the gift is not to be squeezed from regret or compulsion. God’s abundance is described in agricultural language, with seed, bread, a store of seed, and a harvest of righteousness all passing briskly through the same paragraph.

    A gift that keeps speakingvv. 11–15

    The gift does more than supply the saints’ needs. It produces thanksgiving, glorifies God for an obedient confession and a generous contribution, and draws out affection in prayer. The whole movement ends not with an account of the collection, but with a gift too large for description.

    The text

    Read it

    Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

    1. 2 Cor 9:1Now about the service to the saints, there is no need for me to write to you.

    2. 2 Cor 9:2For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting to the Macedonians that since last year you in Achaia were prepared to give. And your zeal has stirred most of them to do likewise.

    3. 2 Cor 9:3But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you in this matter should not prove empty, but that you will be prepared, just as I said.

    4. 2 Cor 9:4Otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—to say nothing of you—would be ashamed of having been so confident.

    5. 2 Cor 9:5So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you beforehand and make arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. This way, your gift will be prepared generously and not begrudgingly.

    6. 2 Cor 9:6Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

    7. 2 Cor 9:7Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not out of regret or compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.

    8. 2 Cor 9:8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

    9. 2 Cor 9:9As it is written: “He has scattered abroad His gifts to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.”

    10. 2 Cor 9:10Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your store of seed and will increase the harvest of your righteousness.

    11. 2 Cor 9:11You will be enriched in every way to be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will produce thanksgiving to God.

    12. 2 Cor 9:12For this ministry of service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanksgiving to God.

    13. 2 Cor 9:13Because of the proof this ministry provides, the saints will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for the generosity of your contribution to them and to all the others.

    14. 2 Cor 9:14And their prayers for you will express their affection for you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.

    15. 2 Cor 9:15Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

    01 — Also here

    Who else the chapter reaches

    Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

    Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.

    02 — Read alongside

    Where this is echoed

    Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 198 passages were voted onto 15 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

    • 8Ephesians 3:20Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,
    • 8Philippians 4:18–19I have all I need and more, now that I have received your gifts from Epaphroditus. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.
    • 8Proverbs 10:22The blessing of the LORD enriches, and He adds no sorrow to it.
    • 8Malachi 3:10Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing without measure.
    • 72 Corinthians 8:12For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.
    • 9Psalms 112:9He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor.
    • 6Proverbs 11:24–25One gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor.
    • 8Haggai 2:8The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, declares the LORD of Hosts.
    • 8Proverbs 28:27Whoever gives to the poor will not be in need, but he who hides his eyes will receive many curses.
    • 6Luke 6:38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”
    • 8Psalms 84:11For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
    • 7Acts 20:35In everything, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus Himself: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
    • 8Titus 3:14And our people must also learn to devote themselves to good works in order to meet the pressing needs of others, so that they will not be unfruitful.
    • 10Isaiah 55:10For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return without watering the earth, making it bud and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat,
    • 82 Corinthians 8:7But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness, and in the love we inspired in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
    • 6Proverbs 22:9A generous man will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.

    Onward

    Keep reading

    Next chapter2 Corinthians 1018 verses.Named hereMacedoniaEverything the graph connects to this name.Book2 CorinthiansAll 13 chapters.Every bookThe Bible66 books, 1,189 chapters.