| New King James Version | International Standard Version |
| 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 recommend ourselves again? Unlike some people, we do not need letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we? |
| 2You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; | 2You are our letter, written in our hearts and 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. | 3You are demonstrating that you are the Messiah's letter, produced by our service, 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 is the confidence that we have in God through the Messiah. |
| 5Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, | 5By ourselves we are not qualified to claim that anything comes from us. Rather, our credentials come 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. | 6who has also qualified us to be ministers of a new covenant, which is not written but spiritual, because the written text brings death, 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 that was inscribed in letters of stone came with such glory that the people of Israel could not gaze on Moses' face (because the glory was fading away from it), |
| 8how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? | 8will not the Spirit's ministry have even more glory? |
| 9For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. | 9For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, then the ministry of justification has an overwhelming glory. |
| 10For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. | 10In fact, that which once had glory lost its glory, because the other glory surpassed it. |
| 11For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious. | 11For if that which fades away came through glory, how much more does that which is permanent have glory? |
| 12Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech— | 12Therefore, since we have such a hope, we speak very boldly, |
| 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. | 13not like Moses, who kept covering his face with a veil to keep the people of Israel 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. | 14However, their minds were hardened, for to this day the same veil is still there when they read the old covenant. Only in union with the Messiah is that veil removed. |
| 15But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. | 15Yet 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 a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. |
| 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 Lord's Spirit 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. | 18As all of us reflect the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, we are becoming more like him with ever-increasing glory by the Lord's Spirit. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
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