| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 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 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 are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 4And we have such trust through Christ toward God. | 4We are confident of all this because of our great trust 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, | 5It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes 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. | 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 |
| 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, | 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. |
| 8how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? | 8Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? |
| 9For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more 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! |
| 10For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. | 10In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way. |
| 11For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious. | 11So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever! |
| 12Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech— | 12Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. |
| 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. | 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 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 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. |
| 15But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. | 15Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand. |
| 16Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. | 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 liberty. | 17For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, 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. | 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. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. 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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