2 Corinthians 3
1 Must we begin again to commend ourselves? Or are we in need (as some are) of epistles of commendation for you, or from you?
Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or letters of recommendation from you?
2 You are our Epistle, written in our hearts, which is known and read by all men.
You are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by all.
3 It has been made manifest that you are the Epistle of Christ, ministered by us, and written down, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, and not on tablets of stone, but on the fleshly tablets of the heart.
You show that you are a letter from Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets, but on tablets of human hearts.
4 And we have such faith, through Christ, toward God.
Such is the confidence that we have in God through Christ.
5 It is not that we are adequate to think anything of ourselves, as if anything was from us. But our adequacy is from God.
Not that we are competent in and of ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God.
6 And he has made us suitable ministers of the New Testament, not in the letter, but in the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
7 But if the ministration of death, engraved with letters upon stones, was in glory, (so much so that the sons of Israel were not able to gaze intently upon the face of Moses, because of the glory of his countenance) even though this ministration was ineffective,
Now if the ministry of death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not gaze at the face of Moses because of its glory (a glory that was fading away),
8 how could the ministration of the Spirit not be in greater glory?
will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?
9 For if the ministration of condemnation is with glory, so much more is the ministration of justice abundant in glory.
For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, the ministry of righteousness abounds in glory even more.
10 And neither was it glorified by means of an excellent glory, though it was made illustrious in its own way.
For what was once glorious now has no glory in comparison with the glory that surpasses it.
11 For if even what was temporary has its glory, then what is lasting has an even greater glory.
And if what was fading away came with glory, what remains will be even more glorious.
12 Therefore, having such a hope, we act with much confidence,
Therefore, since we have such a hope, we act with great boldness.
13 and not as Moses did, in placing a veil over his face, so that the sons of Israel would not gaze intently at his face. This was ineffective,
We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not gaze at the end of what was fading away.
14 for their minds were obtuse. And, even until this present day, the very same veil, in the readings from the Old Testament, remains not taken away (though, in Christ, it is taken away).
But their minds were hardened, for to this day the same veil remains unlifted when the old covenant is read. Only in Christ is this veil taken away.
15 But even until today, when Moses is read, a veil is still set over their hearts.
But to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts.
16 But when they will have been converted to the Lord, then the veil shall be taken away.
But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
17 Now the Spirit is Lord. And wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
18 Yet truly, all of us, as we gaze upon the unveiled glory of the face of the Lord, are transfigured into the same image, from one glory to another. And this is done by the Spirit of the Lord.
And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
