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.
The Unrighteous Steward: Use Earthly Money For Heavenly Gain
16 And He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a steward[a]. And this one was accused to him as squandering his possessions. 2 And having called him, he said to him, ‘What is this I am hearing about you? Render the account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward’. 3 And the steward said within himself, ‘What should I do, because my master is taking-away the stewardship[b] from me? I am not strong-enough to dig. I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I will do so that they will welcome me into their houses when I am removed from the stewardship’. 5 And having summoned each one of the debtors of his master, he was saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe to my master?’ 6 And the one said, ‘A hundred baths[c] of olive-oil’. And the one said to him, ‘Take your writings[d], and having sat-down quickly, write fifty’. 7 Then he said to another, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ And the one said, ‘A hundred cor[e] of wheat’. He says to him, ‘Take your writings, and write eighty’. 8 And the master praised the unrighteous steward because he acted shrewdly[f]. Because the sons of [g] this age are more shrewd in-relation-to their own kind than the sons of the light. 9 And I say to you— make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails[h] they[i] will welcome you into the eternal dwellings.
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