| New King James Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, 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 people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? |
| 2You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; | 2You yourselves are our letter, inscribed on our hearts, known and read by everyone. |
| 3clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. | 3It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. |
| 4And we have such trust through Christ toward God. | 4Such confidence before God is ours through Christ. |
| 5Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, | 5Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God. |
| 6who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. | 6And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. |
| 7But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, | 7Now if the ministry of death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at the face of Moses because of its fleeting glory, |
| 8how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? | 8will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? |
| 9For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. | 9For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry of righteousness! |
| 10For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. | 10Indeed, what was once glorious has no glory now in comparison to the glory that surpasses it. |
| 11For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious. | 11For if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which endures! |
| 12Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech— | 12Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. |
| 13unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. | 13We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at the end of what was fading away. |
| 14But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. | 14But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed. |
| 15But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. | 15And even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. |
| 16Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. | 16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. |
| 17Now the Lord is the 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 unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. | 18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. |
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