New American Standard Bible 1995

2 Corinthians 3:3-18

3being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, 1 2cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of 3the living God, not on 4tablets of stone but on 5tablets of 6 7human hearts.

4Such 8confidence we have through Christ toward God. 5Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but 9our adequacy is from God, 6who also made us adequate as 10servants of a 11new covenant, not of 12the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but 13the Spirit gives life.

7But if the 14ministry of death, 15in letters engraved on stones, came 16with glory, 17so 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, 8how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? 9For if 18the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the 19ministry of righteousness abound in glory. 10For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. 11For if that which fades away was 20with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.

12 21Therefore having such a hope, 22we use great boldness in our speech, 13and are not like Moses, 23who 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. 14But their minds were 24hardened; for until this very day at the 25reading of 26the old covenant the same veil 27remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. 15But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; 16 28but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where 29the Spirit of the Lord is, 30there is liberty. 18But we all, with unveiled face, 31beholding as in a mirror the 32glory of the Lord, are being 33transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from 34the Lord, the Spirit.

Read all of 2 Corinthians 3

Notes

1. 2 Corinthians 3:3 Lit served ↩
2. 2 Corinthians 3:3 2 Cor 3:6 ↩
3. 2 Corinthians 3:3 Matt 16:16 ↩
4. 2 Corinthians 3:3 Ex 24:12; 31:18; 32:15f; 2 Cor 3:7 ↩
5. 2 Corinthians 3:3 Prov 3:3; 7:3; Jer 17:1 ↩
6. 2 Corinthians 3:3 Lit hearts of flesh ↩
7. 2 Corinthians 3:3 Jer 31:33; Ezek 11:19; 36:26 ↩
8. 2 Corinthians 3:4 Eph 3:12 ↩
9. 2 Corinthians 3:5 1 Cor 15:10 ↩
10. 2 Corinthians 3:6 1 Cor 3:5 ↩
11. 2 Corinthians 3:6 Jer 31:31; Luke 22:20 ↩
12. 2 Corinthians 3:6 Rom 2:29 ↩
13. 2 Corinthians 3:6 John 6:63; Rom 7:6 ↩
14. 2 Corinthians 3:7 Rom 4:15; 5:20; 7:5f; 2 Cor 3:9; Gal 3:10, 21f ↩
15. 2 Corinthians 3:7 Ex 24:12; 31:18; 32:15f; 2 Cor 3:3 ↩
16. 2 Corinthians 3:7 Or in glory ↩
17. 2 Corinthians 3:7 Ex 34:29-35; 2 Cor 3:13 ↩
18. 2 Corinthians 3:9 Deut 27:26; 2 Cor 3:7; Heb 12:18-21 ↩
19. 2 Corinthians 3:9 Rom 1:17; 3:21f ↩
20. 2 Corinthians 3:11 Lit through ↩
21. 2 Corinthians 3:12 2 Cor 7:4 ↩
22. 2 Corinthians 3:12 Acts 4:13, 29; 2 Cor 7:4; Eph 6:19; 1 Thess 2:2 ↩
23. 2 Corinthians 3:13 Ex 34:33-35; 2 Cor 3:7 ↩
24. 2 Corinthians 3:14 Rom 11:7; 2 Cor 4:4 ↩
25. 2 Corinthians 3:14 Acts 13:15 ↩
26. 2 Corinthians 3:14 2 Cor 3:6 ↩
27. 2 Corinthians 3:14 Or remains, it not being revealed that it is done away in Christ ↩
28. 2 Corinthians 3:16 Ex 34:34; Rom 11:23 ↩
29. 2 Corinthians 3:17 Is 61:1f; Gal 4:6 ↩
30. 2 Corinthians 3:17 John 8:32; Gal 5:1, 13 ↩
31. 2 Corinthians 3:18 1 Cor 13:12 ↩
32. 2 Corinthians 3:18 John 17:22, 24; 2 Cor 4:4, 6 ↩
33. 2 Corinthians 3:18 Rom 8:29 ↩
34. 2 Corinthians 3:18 2 Cor 3:17 ↩

Notes

Commentaries on 2 Corinthians 3