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

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

5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.

5 They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.

5 And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.

5 And they gave in a way we did not expect: They first gave themselves to the Lord and to us. This is what God wants.

5 and this, not as we had hoped, but first they gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us through the will of God.

5 And not according as we hoped, but they gave themselves first to the Lord, and to us by God’s will.

5 They did more than we had expected. First, they gave themselves to the Lord and to us, since this was God’s will.

5 and not just as we had hoped. Instead, they gave themselves especially to the Lord, then to us by God’s will.

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

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

5 They did more than we expected. First they gave themselves to the Lord. Then they gave themselves to us in keeping with what God wanted.