2 Corinthians 4:1–4

Paul’s Perseverance in Ministry

4:1 Therefore, since we have this ministry, just as God has shown us mercy,1 we do not become discouraged.2 4:2 But we have rejected3 shameful hidden deeds,4 not behaving5 with deceptiveness6 or distorting the word of God, but by open proclamation of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience before God. 4:3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing, 4:4 among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe7 so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel8 of Christ,9 who is the image of God.

1	tn Grk “just as we have been shown mercy”; ἡλεήθημεν (ēleēthēmen) has been translated as a “divine passive” which is a circumlocution for God as the active agent. For clarity this was converted to an active construction with God as subject in the translation.
2	tn Or “we do not lose heart.”
3	tn L&N 13.156; the word can also mean “to assert opposition to,” thus here “we have denounced” (L&N 33.220).
4	tn Grk “the hidden things [deeds] of shame”; here αἰσχύνης (aischunēs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.
5	tn Or “not conducting ourselves”; Grk “not walking” (a common NT idiom for conduct, way of life, or behavior).
6	tn Or “craftiness.”
7	tn Or “of unbelievers.”
8	tn Grk “the gospel of the glory”; δόξης (doxēs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.
9	tn Or “so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ would not be evident to them” (L&N 28.37).