2 Corinthians 2:14-17
New Living Translation
Ministers of the New Covenant
14 But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. 15 Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. 16 To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?
17 You see, we are not like the many hucksters[a] who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us.
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- 2:17 Some manuscripts read the rest of the hucksters.
2 Corinthians 2:14-17
International Standard Version
14 But thanks be to God! He always leads us triumphantly by the Messiah[a] and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of knowing him. 15 To God we are the aroma of the Messiah[b] among those who are being saved and among those who are being lost. 16 To some people we are a deadly fragrance,[c] while to others we are a living fragrance.[d] Who is qualified for this? 17 At least we are not commercializing God’s word like so many others. Instead, we speak with sincerity in the Messiah’s[e] name,[f] like people who are sent from God and are accountable to God.[g]
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- 2 Corinthians 2:14 Or Christ
- 2 Corinthians 2:15 Or Christ
- 2 Corinthians 2:16 Lit. a fragrance of death to death
- 2 Corinthians 2:16 Lit. a fragrance of life to life
- 2 Corinthians 2:17 Or Christ’s
- 2 Corinthians 2:17 The Gk. lacks name
- 2 Corinthians 2:17 Lit. as from God and before God
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