3Are we beginning to praise ourselves again? Some people need letters that speak well of them. Do we need those kinds of letters, either to you or from you?

²You yourselves are our letter. You are written on our hearts. Everyone knows you and reads you. ³You make it clear that you are a letter from Christ. You are the result of our work for God. You are a letter written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God. You are a letter written not on tablets made out of stone but on human hearts.

⁴Through Christ, we can be sure of this because of our faith in God’s power. ⁵In ourselves we are not able to claim anything for ourselves. The power to do what we do comes from God. ⁶He has given us the power to serve under a new covenant. The covenant is not based on the written Law of Moses. It comes from the Holy Spirit. The written Law kills, but the Spirit gives life.

The Glory of the New Covenant

⁷The Law was written in letters on stone. Even though it was a way of serving God, it led to death. But even that way of serving God came with glory. And even though the glory was fading, the people of Israel couldn’t look at Moses’ face very long.

⁸Since all of that is true, won’t the work of the Holy Spirit be even more glorious? ⁹The Law that sentences people to death is glorious. How much more glorious is the work of the Spirit! His work makes people right with God.

¹⁰The glory of the old covenant is nothing compared with the far greater glory of the new. ¹¹The glory of the old is fading away. How much greater is the glory of the new! It will last forever.

¹²Since we have that kind of hope, we are very bold. ¹³We are not like Moses. He used to cover his face with a veil. That was to keep the people of Israel from looking at his face while the brightness was fading away.

¹⁴But their minds were made stubborn. To this very day, the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. The veil has not been removed. Only faith in Christ can take it away. ¹⁵To this very day, when the Law of Moses is read, a veil covers the minds of those who hear it.

¹⁶But when anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷Now the Lord is the Holy Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, freedom is also there.

¹⁸Our faces are not covered with a veil. We all display the Lord’s glory. We are being changed to become more like him so that we have more and more glory. And the glory comes from the Lord, who is the Holy Spirit.

A Treasure in Clay Jars

4So because of God’s mercy, we have work to do. He has given it to us. And we don’t give up. ²Instead, we have given up doing secret and shameful things. We don’t twist God’s word. In fact, we do just the opposite. We present the truth plainly. In the sight of God, we make our appeal to everyone’s sense of what is right and wrong.

³Suppose our good news is covered with a veil. Then it is veiled to those who are dying. ⁴The god of this world has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They can’t see the light of the good news of Christ’s glory. He is the likeness of God.

⁵We do not preach about ourselves. We preach about Jesus Christ. We say that he is Lord. And we serve you because of him.

⁶God said, “Let light shine out of darkness.” He made his light shine in our hearts. It shows us the light of God’s glory in the face of Christ.

⁷Treasure is kept in clay jars. In the same way, we have the treasure of the good news in these earthly bodies of ours. That shows that the mighty power of the good news comes from God. It doesn’t come from us.

⁸We are pushed hard from all sides. But we are not beaten down. We are bewildered. But that doesn’t make us lose hope. ⁹Others make us suffer. But God does not desert us. We are knocked down. But we are not knocked out. ¹⁰We always carry around the death of Jesus in our bodies. In that way, the life of Jesus can be shown in our bodies.

¹¹We who are alive are always in danger of death because we are serving Jesus. So his life can be shown in our earthly bodies. ¹²Death is at work in us. But life is at work in you.

¹³It is written, “I believed, and so I have spoken.” With that same spirit of faith we also believe. And we also speak.

¹⁴We know that God raised the Lord Jesus from the dead. And he will also raise us up with Jesus. He will bring us with you to God in heaven. ¹⁵All of that is for your benefit. God’s grace is reaching more and more people. So they will become more and more thankful. They will give glory to God.

¹⁶We don’t give up. Our bodies are becoming weaker and weaker. But our spirits are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷Our troubles are small. They last only for a short time. But they are earning for us a glory that will last forever. It is greater than all our troubles.

¹⁸So we don’t spend all our time looking at what we can see. Instead, we look at what we can’t see. What can be seen lasts only a short time. But what can’t be seen will last forever.

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