2 Corinthians 4–5

CHAPTER 4

The Gospel of the Glory of Christ

¹Therefore, since we have this ^aministry, as we ^breceived mercy, we ^cdo not lose heart,

²but we have renounced the ^ahidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness or ^badulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth ^ccommending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

³And even if our ^agospel is ^bveiled, it is veiled ¹to ^cthose who are perishing,

⁴in whose case ^athe god of ^bthis age has ^cblinded the minds of the unbelieving ¹so that they might not see the ^dlight of the gospel of the ^eglory of Christ, who is the ^fimage of God.

⁵For we ^ado not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves ¹for the sake of Jesus.

⁶For God, who said, “^aLight shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has ^bshone in our hearts to give the ^cLight of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

⁷But we have this treasure in ^aearthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of ^bthe power will be of God and not from ourselves;

^8ain every way afflicted, but not ^bcrushed; ^cperplexed, but not despairing;

^9apersecuted, but not ^bforsaken; ^cstruck down, but not destroyed;

^10aalways carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that ^bthe life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

¹¹For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

¹²So death works in us, but life in you.

¹³But having the same ^aspirit of faith, according to what is written, “^bI believed, therefore I spoke,” we also believe, therefore we also speak,

¹⁴knowing that He who ^araised the Lord Jesus ^bwill raise us also with Jesus and will ^cpresent us with you.

¹⁵For all things are ^afor your sakes, so that the grace which is ^1bspreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.

¹⁶Therefore we ^ado not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our ^binner man is ^cbeing renewed day by day.

¹⁷For our momentary, ^alight affliction is working out for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,

¹⁸while we ^alook not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

CHAPTER 5

The Temporal and Eternal

¹For we know that if ¹the ^aearthly ^btent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house ^cnot made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

²For indeed in this we ^agroan, longing to be ^bclothed with our dwelling from heaven,

³inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked.

⁴For indeed while we are in this tent, we ^agroan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be ^bclothed, so that what is ^cmortal will be swallowed up by life.

⁵Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who ^agave to us the Spirit as a ¹pledge.

⁶Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that ^awhile we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—

⁷for ^awe walk by faith, not by ¹sight—

⁸we are of good courage and ^aprefer rather to be absent from the body and ^bto be at home with the Lord.

⁹Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be ^apleasing to Him.

¹⁰For we must all appear before ^athe judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for ¹his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

¹¹So then, knowing the ^afear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we ¹have been made manifest to God; and I hope that we ²have been ^bmade manifest also in your consciences.

¹²We are not ^aagain commending ourselves to you but are giving you an ^bopportunity to boast of us, so that you will have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart.

¹³For if we ¹are ^aout of our mind, it is for God, or if we are of right mind, it is for you.

¹⁴For the love of Christ ^acontrols us, having concluded this, that ^bone died for all, therefore all died.

¹⁵And He died for all, so that they who live would no longer ^alive for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

¹⁶Therefore from now on we recognize no one ^1aaccording to the flesh; even though we have known Christ ²according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.

¹⁷Therefore if anyone is ^ain Christ, he is ^ba new creation; ^cthe old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

¹⁸Now ^aall these things are from God, ^bwho reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ^cministry of reconciliation,

¹⁹namely, that ^aGod was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, ^bnot counting their transgressions against them, and ¹He has ²committed to us the word of reconciliation.

²⁰So then, we are ^aambassadors for Christ, ^bas God is pleading through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be ^creconciled to God.

²¹He made Him who ^aknew no sin to be ^bsin on our behalf, so that we might become the ^crighteousness of God in Him.