| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Therefore, since we have this ministry, just as God has shown us mercy, we do not become discouraged. | 1Therefore, since God in his mercy has given us this new way, we never give up. |
| 2But we have rejected shameful hidden deeds, not behaving with deceptiveness or distorting the word of God, but by open proclamation of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone's conscience before God. | 2We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this. |
| 3But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing, | 3If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. |
| 4among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God. | 4Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. |
| 5For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake. | 5You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. |
| 6For God, who said "Let light shine out of darkness," is the one who shined in our hearts to give us the light of the glorious knowledge of God in the face of Christ. | 6For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. |
| 7But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that the extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. | 7We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. |
| 8We are experiencing trouble on every side, but are not crushed; we are perplexed, but not driven to despair; | 8We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. |
| 9we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are knocked down, but not destroyed, | 9We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. |
| 10always carrying around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our body. | 10Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. |
| 11For we who are alive are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our mortal body. | 11Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. |
| 12As a result, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. | 12So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you. |
| 13But since we have the same spirit of faith as that shown in what has been written, "I believed; therefore I spoke," we also believe, therefore we also speak. | 13But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.” |
| 14We do so because we know that the one who raised up Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus and will bring us with you into his presence. | 14We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. |
| 15For all these things are for your sake, so that the grace that is including more and more people may cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God. | 15All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. |
| 16Therefore we do not despair, but even if our physical body is wearing away, our inner person is being renewed day by day. | 16That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. |
| 17For our momentary, light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison | 17For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! |
| 18because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal. | 18So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. |
|
