Are we beginning to acommend
ourselves
again
? Or
do we need
, as some
, bletters
of commendation
to you or
from you?
aYou are our letter, written
in our hearts
, known
and read
by all
men
;
being manifested that you are a letter
of Christ
, 1 acared
for by us, written
not with ink
but with the Spirit
of bthe living
God
, not on ctablets
of stone
but on dtablets
of 2 ehuman
hearts
.
Such aconfidence
we have
through
Christ
toward
God
.
Not that we are adequate in ourselves
to consider
anything
as coming from ourselves
, but aour adequacy
is from God
,
who also
made
us adequate
as aservants
of a bnew
covenant
, not of cthe letter
but of the Spirit
; for the letter
kills
, but dthe Spirit
gives
life
.
But if the aministry
of death
, bin letters
engraved
on stones
, came
1with glory
, cso
that the sons
of Israel
could
not look
intently
at the face
of Moses
because
of the glory
of his face
, fading
as it was,
how will the ministry
of the Spirit
fail
to be even more
with glory
?
For if athe ministry
of condemnation
has glory
, much
more
does the bministry
of righteousness
abound
in glory
.
For indeed what had
glory
, in this
case
has
no
glory
because
of the glory
that surpasses
it.
For if that which fades
away
was 1with glory
, much
more
that which remains
is in glory
.
aTherefore having
such
a hope
, bwe use
great
boldness
in our speech
,
and are not like Moses
, awho used to put
a veil
over
his face
so
that the sons
of Israel
would not look
intently
at the end
of what was fading
away
.
But their minds were ahardened
; for until
this
very
day
at the breading
of cthe old
covenant
the same
veil
1remains
unlifted
, because
it is removed
in Christ
.
But to this day
whenever
Moses
is read
, a veil
lies
over
their heart
;
abut whenever a person turns
to the Lord
, the veil
is taken
away
.
Now the Lord
is the Spirit
, and where
athe Spirit
of the Lord
is, bthere is liberty
.
But we all, with unveiled
face
, abeholding
as in a mirror
the bglory
of the Lord
, are being ctransformed
into the same
image
from glory
to glory
, just
as from dthe Lord
, the Spirit
.