| English Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? | 1Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? We don't need letters of recommendation to you or from you as some other people do, do we? |
| 2You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. | 2You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone, |
| 3And 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 tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. | 3revealing that you are a letter of Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on tablets of human hearts. |
| 4Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. | 4Now we have such confidence in God through Christ. |
| 5Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, | 5Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as if it were coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, |
| 6who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. | 6who made us adequate to be servants of a new covenant not based on the letter but on the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. |
| 7Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, | 7But if the ministry that produced death--carved in letters on stone tablets--came with glory, so that the Israelites could not keep their eyes fixed on the face of Moses because of the glory of his face (a glory which was made ineffective), |
| 8will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? | 8how much more glorious will the ministry of the Spirit be? |
| 9For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. | 9For if there was glory in the ministry that produced condemnation, how much more does the ministry that produces righteousness excel in glory! |
| 10Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. | 10For indeed, what had been glorious now has no glory because of the tremendously greater glory of what replaced it. |
| 11For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. | 11For if what was made ineffective came with glory, how much more has what remains come in glory! |
| 12Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, | 12Therefore, since we have such a hope, we behave with great boldness, |
| 13not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. | 13and not like Moses who used to put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from staring at the result of the glory that was made ineffective. |
| 14But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. | 14But their minds were closed. For to this very day, the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read. It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. |
| 15Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. | 15But until this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds, |
| 16But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. | 16but when one 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 present, there is freedom. |
| 18And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. | 18And 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, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit. |
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