| New King James Version | NET Bible |
| 1Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation 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 are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; | 2You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone, |
| 3clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. | 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. |
| 4And we have such trust through Christ toward God. | 4Now we have such confidence in God through Christ. |
| 5Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, 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 also made us sufficient as ministers of the 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. |
| 7But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, | 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), |
| 8how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? | 8how much more glorious will the ministry of the Spirit be? |
| 9For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more 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! |
| 10For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. | 10For indeed, what had been glorious now has no glory because of the tremendously greater glory of what replaced it. |
| 11For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious. | 11For if what was made ineffective came with glory, how much more has what remains come in glory! |
| 12Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech— | 12Therefore, since we have such a hope, we behave with great boldness, |
| 13unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at 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 blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. | 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. |
| 15But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. | 15But until this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds, |
| 16Nevertheless when one 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 liberty. | 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom. |
| 18But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. | 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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