2 Corinthians 3

Ministers of the New Covenant

3^qAre we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, ^ras some do, ^sletters of recommendation to you, or from you? ^2tYou yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our¹ hearts, to be known and read by all. ³And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of ^uthe living God, not on ^vtablets of stone but on ^wtablets of ^xhuman hearts.²

^4ySuch is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. ^5zNot that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but ^aour sufficiency is from God, ⁶who has made us sufficient to be ^bministers of ^ca new covenant, not of ^dthe letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but ^ethe Spirit gives life.

⁷Now if ^fthe ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory ^gthat the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, ⁸will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? ⁹For if there was glory in ^hthe ministry of condemnation, ⁱthe ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. ¹⁰Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. ¹¹For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

¹²Since we have such a hope, ^jwe are very bold, ¹³not like Moses, ^kwho would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. ¹⁴But ^ltheir minds were ^mhardened. For to this day, ⁿwhen they read ^othe old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. ¹⁵Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. ¹⁶But when ^pone³ turns to the Lord, ^qthe veil is removed. ¹⁷Now the Lord⁴ is the Spirit, and where ^rthe Spirit of the Lord is, there is ^sfreedom. ¹⁸And we all, with unveiled face, ^tbeholding ^uthe glory of the Lord,^{5 v}are being transformed into the same image ^wfrom one degree of glory to another.⁶ For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.