1 qch. 5:12; 10:12; 12:11 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need,r[ch. 11:4] as some do,s[Acts 18:27; 1 Cor. 16:3] letters of recommendation to you, or from you? 2 t[1 Cor. 9:2] You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. 3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit ofuSee Matt. 16:16 the living God, not onvEx. 24:12 tablets of stone but onwProv. 3:3; 7:3; Jer. 17:1 tablets ofxEzek. 11:19; 36:26; [Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10] human hearts.
4 yEph. 3:12 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 z[Eph. 2:8] Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, butaSee 1 Cor. 15:10 our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us competent1Or sufficient to bebEph. 3:7; Col. 1:23, 25; [ch. 4:1; 5:18; 1 Tim. 1:12] ministers ofcJer. 31:31; Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25; Heb. 8:8, 13; [ver. 14; Heb. 9:15] a new covenant, not ofdSee Rom. 2:27 the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, bute[John 6:63; Rom. 8:2] the Spirit gives life.
7 Now iffver. 9; See Rom. 4:15 the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glorygver. 13; Ex. 34:29-35 that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9 For if there was glory inhver. 7; [Heb. 12:18-21] the ministry of condemnation,ich. 11:15 the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 10 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.
12 Since we have such a hope,jch. 7:4; Eph. 6:19 we are very bold, 13 not like Moses,kver. 7 who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 Butl[ch. 4:4; Rom. 11:25] their minds weremSee Mark 6:52 hardened. For to this day,nActs 13:15; 15:21 when they reado[ver. 6] the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But whenpRom. 11:23; [Ex. 34:34] one turns to the Lord,q[Isa. 25:7] the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord1Or this Lord is the Spirit, and whererIsa. 61:1, 2; [Gal. 4:6] the Spirit of the Lord is, there issGal. 5:1, 13; See John 8:32 freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face,tSee 1 Cor. 13:12 beholdinguch. 4:4, 6; 1 Tim. 1:11; See John 17:24 the glory of the Lord,1Or reflecting the glory of the LordvRom. 8:29; 1 Cor. 15:49 are being transformed into the same imagew[Ps. 84:7] from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.