Book of Common Prayer
You Yourselves Are Proof To Everyone That God Is Working Through Us
3 Are we[a] beginning to commend ourselves again? Or we do not have-need of letters of recommendation[b] to you or from you, like some, do we? 2 You are our letter— it having been inscribed in our hearts, it being known and being read by all people, 3 you being made-known[c] that you are a letter from[d] Christ having been served by us, having been inscribed not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not in tablets made-of-stone but in tablets[e] which are hearts made-of-flesh.
It Is God Who Makes Us Sufficient As Ministers of His New Covenant
4 And we have such[f] a confidence through Christ toward God— 5 not that we are sufficient[g] from ourselves to count anything as out of ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 Who indeed made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives-life.
And This Ministry Is More Glorious Than That of The Old Covenant
7 And if the ministry of death having been engraved in letters on stones came in glory (so that the sons of Israel could not look-intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face[h]— the glory passing-away), 8 how shall the ministry of the Spirit not be more in glory! 9 For if in the ministry of condemnation there was glory, by much more the ministry of righteousness is abounding in glory. 10 For indeed the [ministry of the letter][i] having been glorified has not[j] been glorified in this respect— because of the surpassing glory! 11 For if the [ministry of the letter] passing-away was with glory, by much more the [ministry of the Spirit] remaining is in glory.
We Don’t Veil The Glory Like Moses. We Reflect It And Are Transformed By It
12 Therefore, having such a hope, we are using great boldness, 13 and are not like Moses. He was putting a veil on his face so that the sons of Israel might not look-intently at the end[k] of the [face of glory][l] passing-away. 14 But[m] their minds were hardened[n], for until this very day the same[o] veil remains on the reading of the old covenant— it not being unveiled because[p] it passes-away[q] in Christ. 15 Indeed[r], until today whenever Moses is being read, a veil lies on their heart. 16 But whenever it[s] turns to the Lord, the veil is taken-away. 17 Now the Lord[t] is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom! 18 But[u] we all with a face having been unveiled, while reflecting[v] the glory of the Lord as a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from glory[w] to glory, just-as[x] from the Lord[y], the Spirit.
Some Say Do Not Commit Adultery. I Say Do Not Desire Another Woman
27 “You heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit-adultery’. 28 But I say to you that everyone looking-at a woman so-as to desire[a] her already committed-adultery-with her in his heart. 29 And if your right eye is causing you to fall, tear it out[b] and throw it from you. For it is better[c] for you that one of your body-parts perish and your whole body not be thrown into Gehenna. 30 And if your right hand is causing you to fall, cut it off and throw it from you. For it is better for you that one of your body-parts perish and your whole body not go into Gehenna.
Some Say Get a Legal Divorce. I Say Divorcees Who Remarry Commit Adultery
31 “And it was said, ‘Whoever sends-away[d] his wife, let him give her a divorce[e] certificate’. 32 But I say to you that everyone sending-away his wife except for a matter[f] of sexual-immorality is causing her to commit-adultery[g]. And whoever marries a woman having been sent-away [from her husband] is committing-adultery.
Some Say Do Not Break Your Oath. I Say Do Not Swear an Oath At All
33 “Again, you heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘You shall not break-your-oath[h], but you shall pay your oaths to the Lord’. 34 But I say to you not to swear-with-an-oath[i] at all— 35 neither by heaven, because it is the throne of God; nor by earth, because it is a footstool of His feet; nor with reference to Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King; 36 nor may you swear-with-an-oath by your head, because you are not able to make one hair white or black. 37 But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’, [or] ‘No, no’. And the thing beyond these is from[j] the evil one.
Disciples' Literal New Testament: Serving Modern Disciples by More Fully Reflecting the Writing Style of the Ancient Disciples, Copyright © 2011 Michael J. Magill. All Rights Reserved. Published by Reyma Publishing