| King James Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you? | 1Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some, letters of recommendation to you or from you? |
| 2Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: | 2You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, recognized and read by everyone. |
| 3Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. | 3It is clear that you are Christ's letter, produced by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God--not on stone tablets but on tablets that are hearts of flesh. |
| 4And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: | 4We have this kind of confidence toward God through Christ. |
| 5Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; | 5It is not that we are competent in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our competence is from God. |
| 6Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. | 6He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit produces life. |
| 7But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: | 7Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory, so that the Israelites were not able to look directly at Moses' face because of the glory from his face--a fading glory-- |
| 8How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? | 8how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? |
| 9For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. | 9For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness overflows with even more glory. |
| 10For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. | 10In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious now by comparison because of the glory that surpasses it. |
| 11For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. | 11For if what was fading away was glorious, what endures will be even more glorious. |
| 12Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: | 12Therefore, having such a hope, we use great boldness. |
| 13And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: | 13We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites could not stare at the end of what was fading away, |
| 14But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. | 14but their minds were closed. For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside only in Christ. |
| 15But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. | 15Even to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, |
| 16Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. | 16but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. |
| 17Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. | 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. |
| 18But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. | 18We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit. |
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