Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

4 God in his kindness gave us this work. So we do not give up.

² We never do wrong things nor do things in secret. We do not fool people nor change God's message. No, we tell people the truth openly. We let every person judge us for himself. We know that God sees all we do.

³ If the good news which we tell is not clear to some people, it is because they are lost. They do not believe.

⁴ The god of this world has covered their minds so they cannot see. They cannot see with their minds the light of the good news of Christ. They cannot see how bright and wonderful Christ is. He is just like God himself.

⁵ We do not talk about ourselves, but about Christ Jesus our Lord. And we are your slaves for Jesus' sake.

⁶ God said, `Let light shine in the darkness.' And he has let light shine in our hearts too. He gave us light that shows how bright and wonderful God is. We see this light when we look at the face of Christ.

⁷ This is something of great value within us, but we are like pots made of earth and clay. This power is greater than any other power. But it comes from God, not from us.

⁸ We have much trouble, but we do not give up. We are in hard places, but help always comes.

⁹ People trouble us, but God is always with us. We are beaten, but we are not killed.

¹⁰ We always feel as if our body is dying, just as Jesus died. Then the life of Jesus also can be seen in our body.

¹¹ While we live we are always ready to die for Jesus. And so the life of Jesus is also seen in our bodies which will die.

¹² So then, while death is at work in us, life is at work at the same time.