A New Covenant on Hearts of Flesh

3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you? ² You are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. ³ It is clear that you are a letter from Messiah delivered by us—written not with ink but with the Ruach of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.^[a]

⁴ Such is the confidence we have through Messiah toward God— ⁵ not that we are competent in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our competence is from God. ⁶ He also made us competent as servants of a new covenant^[b]—not of the letter, but of the Ruach. For the letter kills, but the Ruach gives life.

⁷ Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that Bnei-Yisrael could not look intently upon Moses’ face because of its glory^[c]—although it was passing away— ⁸ how will the ministry of the Ruach not be even more glorious? ⁹ For if there is glory in the ministry of condemnation,^[d] the ministry of righteousness overflows even more in glory. ¹⁰ For even what was glorious is not glorious in comparison to the glory that surpasses it. ¹¹ For if what is passing away is glorious, much more what remains is glorious.

¹² Therefore, having such a hope, we act with great boldness. ¹³ We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face in order for Bnei-Yisrael not to look intently upon the end of what was passing away. ¹⁴ But their minds were hardened. For up to this very day the same veil remains unlifted at the reading of the ancient covenant, since in Messiah it is passing away. ¹⁵ But to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart. ¹⁶ But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ^{[e] 17} Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Ruach Adonai is, there is freedom. ^{[f] 18} But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory—just as from the Lord, who is the Spirit.