| Berean Study Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? | 1Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some, letters of recommendation to you or from you? |
| 2You yourselves are our letter, inscribed on our hearts, known and read by everyone. | 2You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, recognized and read by everyone. |
| 3It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. | 3It is clear that you are Christ's letter, produced by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God--not on stone tablets but on tablets that are hearts of flesh. |
| 4Such confidence before God is ours through Christ. | 4We have this kind of confidence toward God through Christ. |
| 5Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God. | 5It is not that we are competent in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our competence is from God. |
| 6And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. | 6He 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 produces life. |
| 7Now if the ministry of death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at the face of Moses because of its fleeting glory, | 7Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory, so that the Israelites were not able to look directly at Moses' face because of the glory from his face--a fading glory-- |
| 8will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? | 8how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? |
| 9For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry of righteousness! | 9For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness overflows with even more glory. |
| 10Indeed, what was once glorious has no glory now in comparison to the glory that surpasses it. | 10In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious now by comparison because of the glory that surpasses it. |
| 11For if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which endures! | 11For if what was fading away was glorious, what endures will be even more glorious. |
| 12Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. | 12Therefore, having such a hope, we use great boldness. |
| 13We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at the end of what was fading away. | 13We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites could not stare at the end of what was fading away, |
| 14But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed. | 14but their minds were closed. For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside only in Christ. |
| 15And even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. | 15Even to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, |
| 16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. | 16but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. |
| 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. | 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. |
| 18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. | 18We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit. |
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