| English Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 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 praise ourselves again? Are we like others, who need to bring you letters of recommendation, or who ask you to write such letters on their behalf? Surely not! |
| 2You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. | 2The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you. |
| 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. | 3Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts. |
| 4Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. | 4We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. |
| 5Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, | 5It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes 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. | 6He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life. The Glory of the New Covenant |
| 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, | 7The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. |
| 8will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? | 8Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? |
| 9For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. | 9If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! |
| 10Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. | 10In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way. |
| 11For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. | 11So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever! |
| 12Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, | 12Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. |
| 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. | 13We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away. |
| 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 the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. |
| 15Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. | 15Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand. |
| 16But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. | 16But whenever someone 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. | 17For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, 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. | 18So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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