2 Corinthians 5

1 We know that [these bodies] we live in [here in this world are like] [MET] tents. [They are like temporary living/dwelling places]. [So we should not be concerned about what happens to our bodies]. We know that if we are killed {if [someone] kills us}, God will give us [permanent living places. Those permanent living places] [MET] will not be houses that people have made. They [will be new bodies in which we will live forever] in heaven. (aiōnios g166)

Οἴδαμεν γὰρ ὅτι ἐὰν ἡ ἐπίγειος ἡμῶν οἰκία τοῦ σκήνους καταλυθῇ, οἰκοδομὴν ἐκ ˚Θεοῦ ἔχομεν, οἰκίαν ἀχειροποίητον αἰώνιον ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. (aiōnios g166)

2 [While we are here on earth, we suffer]. We often groan because we desire [to go] to heaven [where God] will give us our new [bodies] [MET].

Καὶ γὰρ ἐν τούτῳ στενάζομεν, τὸ οἰκητήριον ἡμῶν τὸ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἐπενδύσασθαι ἐπιποθοῦντες.

3 When [God gives us(inc) our new bodies] [MET], our [spirits will have] [LIT, MET] bodies to live in [that will last forever].

Εἴ γε καὶ ἐνδυσάμενοι, οὐ γυμνοὶ εὑρεθησόμεθα.

4 [It is true that] while we are still living in these bodies [MET] [that do not last forever], we often groan [DOU] [because we desire to be free from them]. We are not longing to be without a body. Instead, [we groan because] we desire to receive our new bodies [MET] in heaven. We long for this to happen so that these bodies that are going to die some day will suddenly be changed [into bodies] that will live [forever].

Καὶ γὰρ οἱ ὄντες ἐν τῷ σκήνει, στενάζομεν, βαρούμενοι ἐφʼ ᾧ οὐ θέλομεν ἐκδύσασθαι, ἀλλʼ ἐπενδύσασθαι, ἵνα καταποθῇ τὸ θνητὸν ὑπὸ τῆς ζωῆς.

5 It is God himself who has prepared us to [receive] these [new bodies]. He is also the one who has guaranteed/assured us [(inc)] that this will happen. He has guaranteed it by sending his Spirit [to live inside us now].

Ὁ δὲ κατεργασάμενος ἡμᾶς εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο ˚Θεός, ὁ δοὺς ἡμῖν τὸν ἀρραβῶνα τοῦ ˚Πνεύματος.

6 So, [because God’s Spirit lives in us], we are always confident [that God will give us new bodies]. We know that as long as we have bodies here on [earth], we are not yet [living together] with the Lord [Jesus in heaven].

Θαρροῦντες οὖν πάντοτε, καὶ εἰδότες ὅτι ἐνδημοῦντες ἐν τῷ σώματι, ἐκδημοῦμεν ἀπὸ τοῦ ˚Κυρίου,

7 While we [(exc)] live [here, we] do not have our [new bodies, but we are] trusting [that God will give them to us].

διὰ πίστεως γὰρ περιπατοῦμεν, οὐ διὰ εἴδους.

8 [As I said], we [(exc)] are confident [that he will give us new bodies]. We [(exc)] would much prefer to leave these bodies [which we have now], and be with the Lord [Jesus in our] home in [heaven].

Θαρροῦμεν δὲ καὶ εὐδοκοῦμεν μᾶλλον ἐκδημῆσαι ἐκ τοῦ σώματος καὶ ἐνδημῆσαι πρὸς τὸν ˚Κύριον.

9 Because of all that, we always want to please [Jesus in everything that we do]. Whether we [(exc)] are [still living] here [in these] bodies or whether we have [left] them and are living in our home [in heaven], we want to please him.

Διὸ καὶ φιλοτιμούμεθα, εἴτε ἐνδημοῦντες εἴτε ἐκδημοῦντες, εὐάρεστοι αὐτῷ εἶναι.

10 [And we need to try hard to do that] because each one of us [believers] must stand before Christ [to be] judged [by him] {[when he will] judge [his people]}. [At that time] he will [reward each one of] us according to what we have done [while we lived in this world] in these bodies. [He will reward us according to] whether we have done good things or whether we have done evil things.

Τοὺς γὰρ πάντας ἡμᾶς φανερωθῆναι δεῖ, ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ βήματος τοῦ ˚Χριστοῦ, ἵνα κομίσηται ἕκαστος τὰ διὰ τοῦ σώματος, πρὸς ἃ ἔπραξεν, εἴτε ἀγαθὸν εἴτε κακόν.

11 It makes me fearful [to think that some day I will stand before the Lord for him to judge me]. So I [do everything that I can to] convince people [that they should believe] (OR, [that I teach] sincerely) [God’s message]. God knows very well [how I conduct my life and what I teach], and I really believe that you know it, too.

Εἰδότες οὖν τὸν φόβον τοῦ ˚Κυρίου, ἀνθρώπους πείθομεν, ˚Θεῷ δὲ πεφανερώμεθα· ἐλπίζω δὲ καὶ ἐν ταῖς συνειδήσεσιν ὑμῶν πεφανερῶσθαι.

12 Once again [I say, as I write this], I am not just [trying to] make you think well/highly of me, [as some people will probably say that I am]. Instead, I am [telling you in this letter why you have] good reason [to tell those who criticize me] that you think highly of me. [I am telling you this] so that you will know what to say to those [teachers of false doctrine among you]. They are proud [of what they have done], instead of [making sure that] they [are right with God and being pleased with that].

Οὐ πάλιν ἑαυτοὺς συνιστάνομεν ὑμῖν, ἀλλὰ ἀφορμὴν διδόντες ὑμῖν καυχήματος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, ἵνα ἔχητε πρὸς τοὺς ἐν προσώπῳ καυχωμένους, καὶ μὴ ἐν καρδίᾳ.

13 [Some of them say that after God has enabled me to see visions], I [talk like] a crazy person. If [that is so, I want you to realize that I talk that way in order to please] God. On the other hand, if [you think that] I [speak and act] wisely, [that is good. I want you to know that I do] speak and act wisely in order to [help] you.

Εἴτε γὰρ ἐξέστημεν, ˚Θεῷ· εἴτε σωφρονοῦμεν, ὑμῖν.

14 [I speak and act the way I do] because the love that Christ [has for people] influences me [in everything that I say and do]. When Christ died, [he suffered the punishment] for [the sins of] all people. So, we should all [think of ourselves as having] died with him, [being as unresponsive to sinful desires as] [MET] a corpse is.

Ἡ γὰρ ἀγάπη τοῦ ˚Χριστοῦ συνέχει ἡμᾶς, κρίναντας τοῦτο, ὅτι εἷς ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀπέθανεν, ἄρα οἱ πάντες ἀπέθανον.

15 When [Christ] died for the everyone, he died in order that [we believers who are alive now] should not conduct our lives in a way that will just [please ourselves]. Instead, [we should conduct our lives in a way that will please] Christ, [because] he is the one who died for us and was brought back to life {whom [God] raised} again.

Καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀπέθανεν, ἵνα οἱ ζῶντες, μηκέτι ἑαυτοῖς ζῶσιν, ἀλλὰ τῷ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἀποθανόντι καὶ ἐγερθέντι.

16 So, [because I realize how much Christ loves everyone], I no longer think about people in the way that those who do not believe [in Christ] think about [them]. Before I [was a believer], I thought about Christ in the way that other non-believers did. But I do not think of him that way any more.

Ὥστε ἡμεῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν οὐδένα οἴδαμεν κατὰ σάρκα. Εἰ καὶ ἐγνώκαμεν κατὰ σάρκα ˚Χριστόν, ἀλλὰ νῦν οὐκέτι γινώσκομεν.

17 The fact is that God makes every one [of us] who [trusts] in Christ to be completely different [than we were before]. Our old [way of conducting our lives] is gone. We now have a [completely] new way of [conducting our lives].

Ὥστε εἴ τις ἐν ˚Χριστῷ, καινὴ κτίσις· τὰ ἀρχαῖα παρῆλθεν, ἰδοὺ, γέγονεν καινά.

18 This [complete change in our lives] is all something that God [does]. It is God who made it possible for us to have a peaceful relationship with him. [He was able to do that] because of what Christ [did for us]. Now God [has sent] me, and those [who work] with me, to tell [people that they] can have a peaceful relationship with him.

Τὰ δὲ πάντα ἐκ τοῦ ˚Θεοῦ, τοῦ καταλλάξαντος ἡμᾶς ἑαυτῷ διὰ ˚Χριστοῦ, καὶ δόντος ἡμῖν τὴν διακονίαν τῆς καταλλαγῆς,

19 That is, [he sent us(exc) to tell them that] when Christ [died], God was [making it possible for everyone] [MTY] in the world to have a peaceful relationship with him. He no longer keeps a record of the sinful things that [we believers] have done. The message that [God] has given to us [to tell people is how we can have a] peaceful relationship with him.

ὡς ὅτι ˚Θεὸς ἦν ἐν ˚Χριστῷ κόσμον καταλλάσσων ἑαυτῷ, μὴ λογιζόμενος αὐτοῖς τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν, καὶ θέμενος ἐν ἡμῖν τὸν λόγον τῆς καταλλαγῆς.

20 So, it is I and my companions who are Christ’s representatives [in this world. When we tell people the message about Christ], it is God himself who is pleading with them by means of what we [say]. So, as true representatives of Christ, we plead with you: [Believe God’s true message about Christ in order that you may] be reconciled to {have a peaceful relationship with} him.

Ὑπὲρ ˚Χριστοῦ οὖν πρεσβεύομεν, ὡς τοῦ ˚Θεοῦ παρακαλοῦντος διʼ ἡμῶν· δεόμεθα ὑπὲρ ˚Χριστοῦ, καταλλάγητε τῷ ˚Θεῷ.

21 [You must believe that even though] Jesus never sinned, God [punished him for all the] sinful things [that people do, just] as [if Jesus had done those sinful things himself]. And because of our close relationship with Christ, God has erased the record of our sins/declared us no longer guilty for our sins.

Τὸν μὴ γνόντα ἁμαρτίαν, ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἁμαρτίαν ἐποίησεν, ἵνα ἡμεῖς γενώμεθα δικαιοσύνη ˚Θεοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ.