2 Corinthians 2:12-3:8

New King James Version

Triumph in Christ

¹²Furthermore, ^(A)when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and ^(B)a ^[a]door was opened to me by the Lord, ¹³^(C)I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I departed for Macedonia.

¹⁴Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us ^[b]diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. ¹⁵For we are to God the fragrance of Christ ^(D)among those who are being saved and ^(E)among those who are perishing. ¹⁶^(F)To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And ^(G)who is sufficient for these things? ¹⁷For we are not, as ^[c]so many, ^(H)peddling^[d] the word of God; but as ^(I)of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.

Christ’s Epistle^(J)

3 Do ^(K)we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, ^(L)epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? ²^(M)You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; ³clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ^(N)ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not ^(O)on tablets of stone but ^(P)on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.

The Spirit, Not the Letter

⁴And we have such trust through Christ toward God. ⁵^(Q)Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but ^(R)our sufficiency is from God, ⁶who also made us sufficient as ^(S)ministers of ^(T)the new covenant, not ^(U)of the letter but of the ^[e]Spirit; for ^(V)the letter kills, ^(W)but the Spirit gives life.

Glory of the New Covenant

⁷But if ^(X)the ministry of death, ^(Y)written and engraved on stones, was glorious, ^(Z)so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, ⁸how will ^(AA)the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?