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Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth[a] we are absent from the Lord— for we live[b] by faith, not by sight. Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away[c] from the body and at home with the Lord. So then whether we are alive[d] or away, we make it our ambition to please him.[e] 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,[f] so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil.[g]

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 5:6 tn Grk “we know that being at home in the body”; an idiom for being alive (L&N 23.91).
  2. 2 Corinthians 5:7 tn Grk “we walk.”
  3. 2 Corinthians 5:8 tn Or “be absent.”
  4. 2 Corinthians 5:9 tn Grk “whether we are at home” [in the body]; an idiom for being alive (L&N 23.91).
  5. 2 Corinthians 5:9 tn Grk “to be pleasing to him.”
  6. 2 Corinthians 5:10 sn The judgment seat (βῆμα, bēma) was a raised platform mounted by steps and sometimes furnished with a seat, used by officials in addressing an assembly or making pronouncements, often on judicial matters. The judgment seat was a common item in Greco-Roman culture, often located in the agora, the public square or marketplace in the center of a city. Use of the term in reference to Christ’s judgment would be familiar to Paul’s 1st century readers.
  7. 2 Corinthians 5:10 tn Or “whether good or bad.”

So we are always confident, because we know that while we are living in the body, we are away from our home with the Lord. We live by faith and not by sight. We are confident, and we would prefer to leave the body and to be at home with the Lord. So our goal is to be acceptable to him, whether we are at home or away from home. 10 We all must appear before Christ in court so that each person can be paid back for the things that were done while in the body, whether they were good or bad.

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