| Berean Study Bible | New International Version |
| 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 people, 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, known 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. | 3You show 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. |
| 4Such confidence before God is ours through Christ. | 4Such confidence we have through Christ before God. |
| 5Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God. | 5Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes 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 as ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives 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 that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, |
| 8will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? | 8will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? |
| 9For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry of righteousness! | 9If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! |
| 10Indeed, what was once glorious has no glory now in comparison to the glory that surpasses it. | 10For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. |
| 11For if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which endures! | 11And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! |
| 12Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. | 12Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. |
| 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 would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing 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 made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. |
| 15And even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. | 15Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. |
| 16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. | 16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. |
| 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. | 18And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. |
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