2 Corinthians 3–4

Living Letters

3Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some, letters of recommendation to you or from you? ²You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, recognized and read by everyone. ^f3It is clear that you are Christ’s letter, ^gproduced ^hby us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God ⁱ—not on stone tablets ^jbut on tablets that are hearts of flesh. ^k

Paul’s Competence

⁴We have this kind of confidence toward God through Christ. ⁵It is not that we are competent in ^lourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our competence is from God. ^m6He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, ⁿnot of the letter, ^obut of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit produces life.

New Covenant Ministry

⁷Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory, ^pso that the Israelites were not able to look directly at Moses’ face because of the glory from his face—a fading glory— ⁸how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? ⁹For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness overflows with even more glory. ¹⁰In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious now by comparison because of the glory that surpasses it. ¹¹For if what was fading away ^qwas glorious, what endures will be even more glorious.

¹²Therefore, having such a hope, ^rwe use great boldness. ¹³We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face ^sso that the Israelites could not stare at the end of what was fading away, ¹⁴but their minds were closed. ^tuFor to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, ^vthe same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside only in Christ. ^w15Even to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, ¹⁶but whenever a person turns ^xto the Lord, the veil is removed. ^y17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at ^zathe glory of the Lord ^band are being transformed ^cinto the same image ^dfrom glory to glory; ^ethis is from the Lord who is the Spirit. ^f

The Light of the Gospel

4Therefore, since we have this ministry because we were shown mercy, ^gwe do not give up. ^h2Instead, we have renounced shameful secret things, not walking ⁱin deceit or distorting God’s message, ^jbut commending ourselves to every person’s conscience in God’s sight by an open display of the truth. ^k3But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴In their case, the god of this age ^lhas blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, ^mnwho is the image of God. ^o5For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, ^pand ourselves as your slaves because of Jesus. ⁶For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” ^qhas shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge ^rof God’s glory ^sin the face of Jesus Christ.

Treasure in Clay Jars

⁷Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power ^tmay be from God and not from us. ⁸We are pressured in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; ⁹we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. ¹⁰We always carry the death of Jesus ^uin our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹For we who live are always given over to death ^vbecause of Jesus, so that Jesus’ life may also be revealed in our mortal flesh. ¹²So death works in us, but life in you. ¹³And since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke, ^wxwe also believe, and therefore speak. ¹⁴We know that the One who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus ^yand present us with you. ¹⁵Indeed, everything is for your benefit, so that grace, extended through more and more people, may cause thanksgiving ^zto increase to God’s glory.

¹⁶Therefore we do not give up. ^aEven though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person ^bis being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For our momentary light affliction ^cdis producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. ^e18So we do not focus on what is seen, ^fbut on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.