2 Corinthians 4–5

Present Weakness and Resurrection Life

4Therefore, since through God’s mercy^d we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.^{e 2}Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways;^f we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.^g On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience^h in the sight of God. ³And even if our gospelⁱ is veiled,^j it is veiled to those who are perishing.^{k 4}The god^l of this age^m has blindedⁿ the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ,^o who is the image of God.^{p 5}For what we preach is not ourselves,^q but Jesus Christ as Lord,^r and ourselves as your servants^s for Jesus’ sake. ⁶For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”^at made his light shine in our hearts^u to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.^v

⁷But we have this treasure in jars of clay^w to show that this all-surpassing power is from God^x and not from us. ⁸We are hard pressed on every side,^y but not crushed; perplexed,^z but not in despair; ⁹persecuted,^a but not abandoned;^b struck down, but not destroyed.^{c 10}We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus,^d so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.^{e 11}For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake,^f so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. ¹²So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.^g

¹³It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”^bh Since we have that same spirit of^c faith,ⁱ we also believe and therefore speak, ¹⁴because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead^j will also raise us with Jesus^k and present us with you to himself.^{l 15}All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving^m to overflow to the glory of God.

¹⁶Therefore we do not lose heart.ⁿ Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly^o we are being renewed^p day by day. ¹⁷For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.^{q 18}So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen,^r since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Awaiting the New Body

5For we know that if the earthly^s tent^t we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. ²Meanwhile we groan,^u longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,^{v 3}because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴For while we are in this tent, we groan^w and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,^x so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ⁵Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.^y

⁶Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷For we live by faith, not by sight.^{z 8}We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.^{a 9}So we make it our goal to please him,^b whether we are at home in the body or away from it. ¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us^c for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

The Ministry of Reconciliation

¹¹Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord,^d we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.^{e 12}We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again,^f but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us,^g so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. ¹³If we are “out of our mind,”^h as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. ¹⁴For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.^{i 15}And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves^j but for him who died for them^k and was raised again.

¹⁶So from now on we regard no one from a worldly^l point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. ¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,^m the new creationⁿ has come:^a The old has gone, the new is here!^{o 18}All this is from God,^p who reconciled us to himself through Christ^q and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.^r And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors,^s as though God were making his appeal through us.^t We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.^{u 21}God made him who had no sin^v to be sin^b for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.^w