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2 Corinthians 3
New International Version

3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves(A) again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation(B) to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone.(C) 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,(D) not on tablets of stone(E) but on tablets of human hearts.(F)

4 Such confidence(G) we have through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves(H) to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.(I) 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant(J)—not of the letter(K) but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.(L)

The Greater Glory of the New Covenant

7 Now if the ministry that brought death,(M) which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory,(N) transitory though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry that brought condemnation(O) was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!(P) 10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11 And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

12 Therefore, since we have such a hope,(Q) we are very bold.(R) 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face(S) to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were made dull,(T) for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant(U) is read.(V) It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord,(W) the veil is taken away.(X) 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit,(Y) and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.(Z) 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate[a](AA) the Lord’s glory,(AB) are being transformed into his image(AC) with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 3:18 Or reflect
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2 Corinthians 3
The Message

3 1-3 Does it sound like we’re patting ourselves on the back, insisting on our credentials, asserting our authority? Well, we’re not. Neither do we need letters of endorsement, either to you or from you. You yourselves are all the endorsement we need. Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it—not with ink, but with God’s living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives—and we publish it.

4-6 We couldn’t be more sure of ourselves in this—that you, written by Christ himself for God, are our letter of recommendation. We wouldn’t think of writing this kind of letter about ourselves. Only God can write such a letter. His letter authorizes us to help carry out this new plan of action. The plan wasn’t written out with ink on paper, with pages and pages of legal footnotes, killing your spirit. It’s written with Spirit on spirit, his life on our lives!

Lifting the Veil

7-8 The Government of Death, its constitution chiseled on stone tablets, had a dazzling inaugural. Moses’ face as he delivered the tablets was so bright that day (even though it would fade soon enough) that the people of Israel could no more look right at him than stare into the sun. How much more dazzling, then, the Government of Living Spirit?

9-11 If the Government of Condemnation was impressive, how about this Government of Affirmation? Bright as that old government was, it would look downright dull alongside this new one. If that makeshift arrangement impressed us, how much more this brightly shining government installed for eternity?

12-15 With that kind of hope to excite us, nothing holds us back. Unlike Moses, we have nothing to hide. Everything is out in the open with us. He wore a veil so the children of Israel wouldn’t notice that the glory was fading away—and they didn’t notice. They didn’t notice it then and they don’t notice it now, don’t notice that there’s nothing left behind that veil. Even today when the proclamations of that old, bankrupt government are read out, they can’t see through it. Only Christ can get rid of the veil so they can see for themselves that there’s nothing there.

16-18 Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.

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2 Corinthians 3
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition

3 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need (as some do) epistles of commendation to you, or from you?

2 You are our epistle, written in our hearts, which is known and read by all men:

3 Being manifested, that you are the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, and written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in the fleshly tables of the heart.

4 And such confidence we have, through Christ, towards God.

5 Not that we are sufficient to think any thing of ourselves, as of ourselves: but our sufficiency is from God.

6 Who also hath made us fit ministers of the new testament, not in the letter, but in the spirit. For the letter killeth, but the spirit quickeneth.

7 Now if the ministration of death, engraven with letters upon stones, was glorious; so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses, for the glory of his countenance, which is made void:

8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather in glory?

9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more the ministration of justice aboundeth in glory.

10 For even that which was glorious in this part was not glorified, by reason of the glory that excelleth.

11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is in glory.

12 Having therefore such hope, we use much confidence:

13 And not as Moses put a veil upon his face, that the children of Israel might not steadfastly look on the face of that which is made void.

14 But their senses were made dull. For, until this present day, the selfsame veil, in the reading of the old testament, remaineth not taken away (because in Christ it is made void).

15 But even until this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart.

16 But when they shall be converted to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away.

17 Now the Lord is a Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

18 But we all beholding the glory of the Lord with open face, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.

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2 Corinthians 3
Expanded Bible

Servants of the New Agreement

3 Are we starting to ·brag about [praise; commend] ourselves again? Do we need letters of ·introduction [recommendation] to you or from you, like some other people [C Paul’s opponents evidently carried letters of reference (perhaps from Jerusalem)]? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone [C the changed lives of the Corinthians prove Paul’s credibility as an apostle of Jesus Christ]. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ ·sent through us [delivered by us; or produced by us; the result of our ministry]. This letter is not written with ink but ·with [by] the Spirit of the living God. It is not written on stone tablets [C the law of Moses was written on stone tablets; Ex. 24:12; 32:16] but on human hearts [L hearts of flesh; Jer. 31:33; Ezek. 11:19; 36:26].

4 We can say this, because through Christ we ·feel certain before God [have confidence in God’s presence; or can trust in God]. 5 We are not saying that we ·can do this work ourselves [L are able/competent/adequate to consider anything as from ourselves]. ·It is God who makes us able to do all that we do [L But our ability/competence/adequacy is from God]. 6 He made us ·able [adequate; competent] to be servants of a new ·agreement from himself to his people [covenant; Jer. 31:31–34; Luke 22:20]. This new ·agreement [covenant] is not ·a written law [L of the letter], but it is of the Spirit. The ·written law [L letter] brings death, but the Spirit gives life.

7 The ·law [or old system; L ministry] that brought death was ·written in words [L engraved with letters] on stone. It came with ·God’s glory [L glory], which made Moses’ face so ·bright [glorious] that the ·Israelites [L children of Israel] could not ·continue to look [gaze] at it. But that glory ·later disappeared [was fading; or was made ineffective (by the veil on his face)]. 8 So ·surely [L will not…?] the ·new way that brings [L ministry of] the Spirit has even more glory. 9 [L For] If the ·law that judged people guilty of sin [L ministry of condemnation] had glory, surely the ·new way that makes people right with God [L ministry of righteousness] has much greater glory. 10 For that which had glory [C the law] ·really loses its glory [L has no glory] when it is compared to the much greater glory [C the new way through the Spirit]. 11 [L For] If that which ·disappeared [faded; was made ineffective; C the law; v. 7] came with glory, then that which ·continues forever [remains; abides; C the new way through the Spirit] has much greater glory.

12 We have this hope, so we ·are very bold [or speak with boldness/confidence]. 13 We are not like Moses, who put a ·covering [veil] over his face so the ·Israelites [L children of Israel] would not see it [Ex. 34:29–35]. The glory was ·disappearing [fading; or made ineffective], and Moses did not want them to see it end. 14 But their minds were ·closed [stubborn; hardened], and even today that same ·covering [veil] ·hides the meaning [L remains] when they read the old ·agreement [covenant]. That covering is ·taken away [L not lifted, because it is removed] only through Christ. 15 Even today, when they read ·the law of Moses [L Moses], there is a ·covering over [L veil laying upon] their ·minds [hearts]. 16 But when a person ·changes and follows [L turns to] the Lord, that ·covering [veil] is taken away [Ex. 34:34]. 17 The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 ·Our faces, then, are not covered [L With an unveiled face…]. We all ·show [reflect; or behold; or contemplate] the Lord’s glory, and we are being ·changed [transformed] ·to be like him [L into the same image]. This change in us ·brings ever greater glory [or is from one degree of glory to another; L is from glory to glory], which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

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