2 Corinthians 2:12-3:18

Contemporary English Version

^12 (A) When I went to Troas to preach the good news about Christ, I found that the Lord had already prepared the way. ¹³ But I was worried when I didn't find my friend Titus there. So I left the other followers and went on to Macedonia.

¹⁴ I am grateful that God always makes it possible for Christ to lead us to victory. God also helps us spread the knowledge about Christ everywhere, and this knowledge is like the smell of perfume. ^15-16 In fact, God thinks of us as a perfume that brings Christ to everyone. For people who are being saved, this perfume has a sweet smell and leads them to a better life. But for people who are lost, it has a bad smell and leads them to a horrible death.

No one really has what it takes to do this work. ¹⁷ A lot of people try to get rich from preaching God's message. But we are God's sincere messengers, and by the power of Christ we speak our message with God as our witness.

God's New Agreement

3 Are we once again bragging about ourselves? Do we need letters to you or from you to tell others about us? Some people do need letters telling about them. ² But you are our letter, and you are in our^[a] hearts for everyone to read and understand. ^3 (B) You are like a letter written by Christ and delivered by us. But you are not written with pen and ink or on tablets made of stone. You are written in our hearts by the Spirit of the living God.

⁴ We are sure about all this. Christ makes us sure in the very presence of God. ⁵ We don't have the right to claim that we have done anything on our own. God gives us what it takes to do all we do. ^6 (C) He makes us worthy to be the servants of his new agreement that comes from the Holy Spirit and not from a written Law. After all, the Law brings death, but the Spirit brings life.

^7 (D) The Law of Moses brought only the promise of death, even though it was carved on stones and given in a wonderful way. Still the Law made Moses' face shine so brightly the people of Israel could not look at it, even though it was a fading glory. ⁸ So won't the agreement the Spirit brings to us be even more wonderful? ⁹ If something that brings the death sentence is glorious, won't something that makes us acceptable to God be even more glorious? ¹⁰ In fact, the new agreement is so wonderful that the Law is no longer glorious at all. ¹¹ The Law was given with a glory that faded away. But the glory of the new agreement is much greater, because it will never fade away.

¹² This wonderful hope makes us feel like speaking freely. ^13 (E) We are not like Moses. His face was shining, but he covered it to keep the people of Israel from seeing the brightness fade away. ¹⁴ The people were stubborn, and something still keeps them from seeing the truth when the Law is read. Only Christ can take away the covering that keeps them from seeing.

¹⁵ When the Law of Moses is read, they have their minds covered over ^16 (F) with a covering that is removed only for those who turn to the Lord. ¹⁷ The Lord and the Spirit are one and the same, and the Lord's Spirit sets us free. ^18 (G) So our faces are not covered. They show the bright glory of the Lord, as the Lord's Spirit makes us more and more like our glorious Lord.