| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. | 1For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. |
| 2For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, | 2We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. |
| 3if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. | 3For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. |
| 4For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. | 4While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. |
| 5Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. | 5God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit. |
| 6So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. | 6So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. |
| 7For we walk by faith, not by sight. | 7For we live by believing and not by seeing. |
| 8We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. | 8Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. |
| 9Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. | 9So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. |
| 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. | 10For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. We Are God’s Ambassadors |
| 11Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences. | 11Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too. |
| 12For we do not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart. | 12Are we commending ourselves to you again? No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart. |
| 13For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. | 13If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. |
| 14For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; | 14Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. |
| 15and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. | 15He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. |
| 16Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. | 16So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! |
| 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. | 17This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! |
| 18Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, | 18And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. |
| 19that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. | 19For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. |
| 20Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. | 20So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” |
| 21For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. | 21For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. |
| 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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