[9:1] Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints,
[9:2] for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them.
[9:3] But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be.
[9:4] 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.
[9:5] So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction.