I urged Titus to visit you and sent our brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not walk in the same spirit and in the same footsteps?
So I am giving my advice about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were not only the first who wanted to give, but you were also the first to begin doing so.
And not only that, but he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we administer this gracious gift for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our eager willingness to help.
If there is any question about Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker in your service. If there is any question about our brothers, they are delegates of the churches, the glory of Christ.
So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance your previously announced blessing, so that this gift of yours may be ready as a blessing and not as something you feel forced to do.
I have received everything in full and have an abundance. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are an aroma of a sweet fragrance, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.