2 Corinthians 8:5

5And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.

5and this, not as we had 8:5 Lit hopedexpected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

5and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

5Not only [did they give materially] as we had hoped, but first they gave themselves to the Lord and to us [as His representatives] by the will of God [disregarding their personal interests and giving as much as they possibly could].

5And not only did they do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us, through the will of God.

5They did more than we expected. First they gave themselves to the Lord. Then they gave themselves to us because that was what God wanted.