| New International Version | NET 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? We don't need letters of recommendation to you or from you as some other people do, do we? |
| 2You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. | 2You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone, |
| 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. | 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 confidence we have through Christ before God. | 4Now we have such confidence in God through Christ. |
| 5Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes 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, |
| 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. | 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 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, | 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 be even more glorious? | 8how much more glorious will the ministry of the Spirit be? |
| 9If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! | 9For if there was glory in the ministry that produced condemnation, how much more does the ministry that produces righteousness excel in glory! |
| 10For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. | 10For indeed, what had been glorious now has no glory because of the tremendously greater glory of what replaced it. |
| 11And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! | 11For if what was made ineffective came with glory, how much more has what remains come in glory! |
| 12Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. | 12Therefore, since we have such a hope, we behave with great boldness, |
| 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. | 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 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. | 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. |
| 15Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. | 15But until this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds, |
| 16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. | 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, 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. | 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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