²⁵ as the secrets^(A) of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”^(B)

⁹ Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God,^(A) who raises the dead.^(B)

²² set his seal^(A) of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.^(B)

⁴ For I wrote you^(A) out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.

² You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone.^(A)

³ You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God,^(A) not on tablets of stone^(B) but on tablets of human hearts.^(C)

¹⁵ Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.

Present Weakness and Resurrection Life

4 Therefore, since through God’s mercy^(A) we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.^(B)

⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”^[a](A) made his light shine in our hearts^(B) to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.^(C)

¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart.^(A) Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly^(B) we are being renewed^(C) day by day.