| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1For we know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in, is dismantled, we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands, that is eternal in the heavens. | 1For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. |
| 2For in this earthly house we groan, because we desire to put on our heavenly dwelling, | 2We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. |
| 3if indeed, after we have put on our heavenly house, we will not be found naked. | 3For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. |
| 4For we groan while we are in this tent, since we are weighed down, because we do not want to be unclothed, but clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. | 4While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. |
| 5Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment. | 5God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit. |
| 6Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth we are absent from the Lord-- | 6So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. |
| 7for we live by faith, not by sight. | 7For we live by believing and not by seeing. |
| 8Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. | 8Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. |
| 9So then whether we are alive or away, we make it our ambition to please him. | 9So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. |
| 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil. | 10For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. We Are God’s Ambassadors |
| 11Therefore, because we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people, but we are well known to God, and I hope we are well known to your consciences too. | 11Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too. |
| 12We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you may be able to answer those who take pride in outward appearance and not in what is in the heart. | 12Are we commending ourselves to you again? No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart. |
| 13For if we are out of our minds, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. | 13If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. |
| 14For the love of Christ controls us, since we have concluded this, that Christ died for all; therefore all have died. | 14Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. |
| 15And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised. | 15He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. |
| 16So then from now on we acknowledge no one from an outward human point of view. Even though we have known Christ from such a human point of view, now we do not know him in that way any longer. | 16So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! |
| 17So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away--look, what is new has come! | 17This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! |
| 18And all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation. | 18And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. |
| 19In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting people's trespasses against them, and he has given us the message of reconciliation. | 19For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. |
| 20Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His plea through us. We plead with you on Christ's behalf, "Be reconciled to God!" | 20So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” |
| 21God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God. | 21For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. |
|
