2 Corinthians 3
1 Do we seem to be again attempting to put ourselves in the right? or have we need, as some have, of letters of approval to you or from you?
Do you say that this is self-recommendation once more? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you?
2 You yourselves are our letter, whose writing is in our heart, open for every man's reading and knowledge;
Our letter of recommendation is yourselves--a letter written on our hearts and everywhere known and read.
3 For you are clearly a letter of Christ, the fruit of our work, recorded not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in stone, but in hearts of flesh.
For all can see that you are a letter of Christ entrusted to our care, and written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the ever-living God--and not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts as tablets.
4 And this is the certain faith which we have in God through Christ:
Such is the confidence which we have through Christ in the presence of God;
5 Not as if we were able by ourselves to do anything for which we might take the credit; but our power comes from God;
not that of ourselves we are competent to decide anything by our own reasonings, but our competency comes from God.
6 Who has made us able to be servants of a new agreement; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter gives death, but the Spirit gives life.
It is He also who has made us competent to serve Him in connexion with a new Covenant, which is not a written code but a Spirit; for the written code inflicts death, but the Spirit gives Life.
7 For if the operation of the law, giving death, recorded in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the eyes of the children of Israel had to be turned away from the face of Moses because of its glory, a glory which was only for a time:
If, however, the service that proclaims death--its code being engraved in writing upon stones--came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily on the face of Moses because of the brightness of his face--a vanishing brightness;
8 Will not the operation of the Spirit have a much greater glory?
will not the service of the Spirit be far more glorious?
9 For if the operation of the law, producing punishment, had its glory, how much greater will be the operation of the Spirit causing righteousness?
For if the service which pronounces doom had glory, far more glorious still is the service which tells of righteousness.
10 For the glory of the first no longer seems to be glory, because of the greater glory of that which comes after.
For, in fact, that which was once resplendent in glory has no glory at all in this respect, that it pales before the glory which surpasses it.
11 For if the order which was for a time had its glory, much more will the eternal order have its glory.
For if that which was to be abolished came with glory, much more is that which is permanent arrayed in glory.
12 Having then such a hope, we keep nothing back,
Therefore, cherishing a hope like this, we speak without reserve, and we do not imitate Moses,
13 And are not like Moses, who put a veil on his face, so that the children of Israel might not see clearly to the end of the present order of things:
who used to throw a veil over his face to hide from the gaze of the children of Israel the passing away of what was but transitory.
14 But their minds were made hard: for to this very day at the reading of the old agreement the same veil is still unlifted; though it is taken away in Christ.
Nay, their minds were made dull; for to this very day during the reading of the book of the ancient Covenant, the same veil remains unlifted, because it is only in Christ that it is to be abolished.
15 But to this day, at the reading of the law of Moses, a veil is over their heart.
Yes, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies upon their hearts.
16 But when it is turned to the Lord, the veil will be taken away.
But whenever the heart of the nation shall have returned to the Lord, the veil will be withdrawn.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there the heart is free.
Now by "the Lord" is meant the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, freedom is enjoyed.
18 But we all, with unveiled face giving back as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord who is the Spirit.
And all of us, with unveiled faces, reflecting like bright mirrors the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same likeness, from one degree of radiant holiness to another, even as derived from the Lord the Spirit.
