2 COR 9:6 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) Also this: the person who plants sparingly will also harvest sparingly, and the person sowing generously will also have a generous harvest.

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT Now this I say: the one sowing sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one sowing in blessings will also reap in blessings.

UST Here is an example that illustrates how you should give. When farmers plant only a few seeds, they harvest only a little food. When farmers plant many seeds, they harvest much food. Much like that, when you help other people, someone will help you in return.

BLB Now this: The one sowing sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one sowing upon blessings will also reap upon blessings,

AICNT The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

OEB Remember the saying – “Scanty sowing, scanty harvest; plentiful sowing, plentiful harvest.”

WEBBE Remember this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET My point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.

LSV And [remember] this: he who is sowing sparingly, will also reap sparingly; and he who is sowing in blessings, will also reap in blessings;

FBV I want to remind you of this: If you only sow a little, you'll only reap a little; if you sow plenty, you'll reap plenty.

TCNT My point is this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

T4T Do not forget this: “A farmer who sows only a few seeds will not gather/reap a large harvest, but the one who sows a lot of seeds will gather/reap a large harvest [MET].” Similarly, if you give just a little to help others, God will give you only a few blessings. But if you give willingly and cheerfully to help people, you will receive in return many blessings from God.

LEB Now the point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

BBE But in the Writings it says, He who puts in only a small number of seeds, will get in the same; and he who puts them in from a full hand, will have produce in full measure from them.

Moff Mark this: he who sows sparingly will reap sparingly, and he who sows generously will reap a generous harvest.

Wymth But do not forget that he who sows with a niggardly hand will also reap a niggardly crop, and that he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

ASV But this I say, He that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

DRA Now this I say: He who soweth sparingly, shall also reap sparingly: and he who soweth in blessings, shall also reap blessings.

YLT And this: He who is sowing sparingly, sparingly also shall reap; and he who is sowing in blessings, in blessings also shall reap;

Drby But this [is true], he that sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he that sows in [the spirit of] blessing shall reap also in blessing:

RV But this I say, He that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
(But this I say, He that soweth/sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he that soweth/sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully. )

SLT And this, He sowing sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he sowing in praises shall reap also in praises.

Wbstr But this I say , He who soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly; and he who soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully.

KJB-1769 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
(But this I say, He which soweth/sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth/sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully. )

KJB-1611 But this I say, Hee which soweth sparingly, shall reape sparingly: and he which soweth bountifully, shall reape bountifully.
(But this I say, He which soweth/sows sparingly, shall reap sparingly: and he which soweth/sows bountifully, shall reap bountifully.)

Bshps This yet I say he which soweth litle, shall reape litle: and he that soweth in geuyng largely and freely, shall reape plenteouslie.
(This yet I say he which soweth/sows little, shall reap little: and he that soweth/sows in giving largely and freely, shall reap plenteous/plentifullie.)

Gnva This yet remember, that he which soweth sparingly, shall reape also sparingly, and hee that soweth liberally, shall reape also liberally.
(This yet remember, that he which soweth/sows sparingly, shall reap also sparingly, and he that soweth/sows liberally, shall reap also liberally. )

Cvdl This I thynke: that he which soweth litle, shal reape litle also: and he yt soweth plenteously,shal likewyse reape plenteously,
(This I thynke: that he which soweth/sows little, shall reap little also: and he it soweth/sows plenteous/plentifully,shal likewise reap plenteous/plentifully,)

TNT This yet remember howe that he which soweth lytell shall reepe lytell: and he that soweth plenteously shall reepe plenteously.
(This yet remember how that he which soweth/sows little shall reap little: and he that soweth/sows plenteous/plentifully shall reap plenteous/plentifully. )

Wycl For Y seie this thing, he that sowith scarseli, schal also repe scarseli; and he that sowith in blessyngis, schal `repe also of blessyngis.
(For I say this thing, he that soweth/sows scarseli, shall also reap scarseli; and he that soweth/sows in blessings, shall reap also of blessings.)

Luth Ich meine aber das: Wer da kärglich säet, der wird auch kärglich ernten; und wer da säet im Segen, der wird auch ernten im Segen.
(I my but that: Who there kärglich sows, the/of_the becomes also kärglich harvest(v); and who there sows in_the blessing, the/of_the becomes also harvest(v) in_the blessing.)

ClVg Hoc autem dico: qui parce seminat, parce et metet: et qui seminat in benedictionibus, de benedictionibus et metet.[fn]
(This however I_mean/say: who/which parce sows, parce and metet: and who/which sows in/into/on blessingnibus, from/about blessingnibus and metet. )

9.6 Qui parce seminat. Non parce seminat qui parum habens parum largitur, si animus promptus sit plus dare, si plus haberet.

9.6 Who parce sows. Not/No parce sows who/which little having little largitur, when/but_if animus prompt(ay)/quick be plus dare, when/but_if plus would_have.

UGNT τοῦτο δέ: ὁ σπείρων φειδομένως, φειδομένως καὶ θερίσει; καὶ ὁ σπείρων ἐπ’ εὐλογίαις, ἐπ’ εὐλογίαις καὶ θερίσει.
(touto de: ho speirōn feidomenōs, feidomenōs kai therisei; kai ho speirōn ep’ eulogiais, ep’ eulogiais kai therisei.)

SBL-GNT Τοῦτο δέ, ὁ σπείρων φειδομένως φειδομένως καὶ θερίσει, καὶ ὁ σπείρων ἐπʼ εὐλογίαις ἐπʼ εὐλογίαις καὶ θερίσει.
(Touto de, ho speirōn feidomenōs feidomenōs kai therisei, kai ho speirōn epʼ eulogiais epʼ eulogiais kai therisei.)

RP-GNT Τοῦτο δέ, ὁ σπείρων φειδομένως, φειδομένως καὶ θερίσει· καὶ ὁ σπείρων ἐπ' εὐλογίαις, ἐπ' εὐλογίαις καὶ θερίσει.
(Touto de, ho speirōn feidomenōs, feidomenōs kai therisei; kai ho speirōn ep' eulogiais, ep' eulogiais kai therisei.)

TC-GNT Τοῦτο δέ, ὁ σπείρων φειδομένως, φειδομένως καὶ θερίσει· καὶ ὁ σπείρων ἐπ᾽ εὐλογίαις, ἐπ᾽ εὐλογίαις καὶ θερίσει.
(Touto de, ho speirōn feidomenōs, feidomenōs kai therisei; kai ho speirōn ep eulogiais, ep eulogiais kai therisei. )

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, orange:accents differ, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 9:6–15: Give generously and joyfully

In this section, Paul continued to encourage the believers in Corinth to give generously and joyfully. He began with a proverb about planting few seeds as compared to planting many seeds (9:6). He told them that a person should decide for himself how much to give and that he should give because he wants to and not because someone is forcing him to give (9:7). He told them to give graciously because God would give graciously to them so that they would have all they needed (9:8). He supported what he said in 9:8 with a quote from the Old Testament (9:9). He used a metaphor of a farmer (9:10) to illustrate that God would provide for them. He told them that God would provide for them generously so they could give generously, which would cause those who received the gift to thank God very much (9:11).

Then Paul explained that the gift would help God’s people who were in need and would cause them to thank God (9:12–13), as well as to pray for the people who had given (9:14). Paul finished by thanking God for his gift of Jesus as Savior (9:15).

Other examples for this section heading are:

Blessings to be expected from the collection (NJB)

The Cheerful Giver (ESV)

Paul encouraged them to give joyfully because they wanted to

9:6a

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,

¶ So/And think about this saying: If someone plants few seeds, he will harvest a little fruit/grain.
¶ Consider these words: The person who sows sparsely will also reap sparsely,

9:6b

and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

And, if someone plants generously/much, he will also harvest generously/much.
and/but the person who sows in a way that blesses will also reap a blessing.

9:6a–b

Remember this: The Greek phrase can be translated as “And/But/Then this.” The conjunction connects this verse to 9:5 and introduces what Paul said next. The word this introduces the following proverb as his main point for the readers to think about here. The Greek phrase tells the reader to think about the meaning of what follows and how it applies to 9:5. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

The point is this (RSV)

Consider these words

So/And think about this saying

Note this principle/proverb

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously: This proverb or saying indicates that if a person plants only a few plants, then he should only expect only a small harvest. Likewise, if he plants a lot, he can expect a lot. With this saying Paul encouraged the believers to give generously to the poor believers in Jerusalem so that God would bless them much.

In some languages this saying does not clearly connect to 9:5. If that is true in your language, you may want to explain in a footnote. An example footnote is:

Paul used this saying to encourage the believers to give generously.

sparingly: The Greek word that the BSB translates as sparingly refers to doing only a little of something. It is the opposite of “generous.” Here it indicates that a person only plants a few seeds when he could have planted much more. As a result, he will only see a small harvest. Other ways to translate this word are:

few seeds…small crop (GNT)

sparsely (NJB)

whoever sows generously will also reap generously: The Greek words are literally “the one sowing upon blessings will also reap upon blessings.” The Greek word translated blessings has a figurative meaning of “generous,” and that is the meaning here. Paul probably used the word “blessings” here to help connect this saying to the word “blessing” in 9:5c, where the BSB translates it as “bountiful gift” (see note there). Other ways to translate this clause are:

whoever sows in a way that blesses will also reap a blessing

whoever sows in the manner of generosity will also reap generously

If possible, use the same word you used in 9:5c for “bountiful” to show the connection to that verse. However, in some languages it will be necessary to use a different word here for the proper meaning. Other ways to translate this clause are:

he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully (RSV)

the person who sows plentifully/abundantly will also reap plentifully/abundantly

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases

δέ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: τοῦτο Δέ ὁ σπείρων φειδομένως φειδομένως καί θερίσει καί ὁ σπείρων ἐπʼ εὐλογίαις ἐπʼ εὐλογίαις καί θερίσει)

Here, the word Now introduces a new section. In this section, Paul gives the Corinthians more reasons why they should give generously. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces a new section, or you could leave Now untranslated. Alternate translation: [Next,]

Note 2 topic: writing-pronouns

τοῦτο

this

Here, the word this refers to the words that Paul says in the rest of this verse. If it would be helpful in your language, you could clarify that Paul is referring to what he is about to say. Alternate translation: [here is what I say]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ὁ σπείρων φειδομένως, φειδομένως καὶ θερίσει; καὶ ὁ σπείρων ἐπ’ εὐλογίαις, ἐπ’ εὐλογίαις καὶ θερίσει

the_‹one› sowing sparingly sparingly the_‹one› sowing (Some words not found in SR-GNT: τοῦτο Δέ ὁ σπείρων φειδομένως φειδομένως καί θερίσει καί ὁ σπείρων ἐπʼ εὐλογίαις ἐπʼ εὐλογίαις καί θερίσει)

Here Paul speaks as if the Corinthians, by giving money to the collection, were sowing seeds and reaping the harvest from what those seeds produced. In the second clause, he uses the word blessings to show the Corinthians how to apply what he says about farmers to the collection. Just as farmers receive a harvest that fits with how they sowed, so people who give to help other believers will receive blessings that fit with what and how much they gave. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a simile or clearly express how the metaphor relates to the Corinthians. Alternate translation: [giving money to help other believers is like farming. The one sowing sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one sowing in blessings will also reap in blessings] or [the one sowing sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one sowing generously will also reap generously. Similarly, the one giving blessings to fellow believers will also receive blessings]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

ὁ σπείρων φειδομένως, φειδομένως καὶ θερίσει; καὶ ὁ σπείρων ἐπ’ εὐλογίαις, ἐπ’ εὐλογίαις καὶ θερίσει

These two phrases mean basically the same thing. The second emphasizes the meaning of the first by repeating the same idea with different words. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could connect the phrases with a word other than and in order to show that the second phrase is repeating the first one, not saying something additional. Alternate translation: [the one sowing sparingly will also reap sparingly; yes, the one sowing in blessings will also reap in blessings]

Parallel 2 COR 9:6

Section 9:6–15: Give generously and joyfully

9:6a

9:6b

9:6a–b

Parallel 2 COR 9:6