Chapter
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Verse
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

2 Corinthians 9:4

ESV Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated — to say nothing of you — for being so confident.
NIV For if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to say anything about you—would be ashamed of having been so confident.
NASB otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to mention you—would be put to shame by this confidence.
CSB Otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we, not to mention you, would be put to shame in that situation.
NLT We would be embarrassed — not to mention your own embarrassment — if some Macedonian believers came with me and found that you weren’t ready after all I had told them!
KJV Lest haply if they of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting.
NKJV lest if some Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we (not to mention you!) should be ashamed of this confident boasting.

What does 2 Corinthians 9:4 mean?

Paul has boasted to other churches about the eagerness of the Corinthians to give to meet the needs of the Jerusalem Christians. He has sent instructions in a previous letter (1 Corinthians 16:1–4) about exactly how to be ready to make a generous donation. Now Paul and his associates are sending Titus and delegates from other churches ahead of the official delegation to make sure the Corinthians are ready.

Paul is open with them. This is a moment of testing for their own reputations, as well as Paul's. If the church in Corinth has nothing ready to give, it would send a poor message to the Macedonian churches who have given generously in spite of their own poverty. If that happens, Paul will feel embarrassed for being so confident in the Corinthians. He assumes they, too, will be humiliated. He does not want that for himself or for them.
Expand
Expand
Expand
What is the Gospel?
Download the app: