1 Do we begin again to recommend ourselves, except we need, as some, letters of recommendation unto you, or from you?
2 our letter ye are, having been written in our hearts, known and read by all men,
3 manifested that ye are a letter of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not in the tablets of stone, but in fleshy tablets of the heart,
4 and such trust we have through the Christ toward God,
5 not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything, as of ourselves, but our sufficiency `is' of God,
6 who also made us sufficient `to be' ministrants of a new covenant, not of letter, but of spirit; for the letter doth kill, and the spirit doth make alive.
7 and if the ministration of the death, in letters, engraved in stones, came in glory, so that the sons of Israel were not able to look stedfastly to the face of Moses, because of the glory of his face -- which was being made useless,
8 how shall the ministration of the Spirit not be more in glory?
9 for if the ministration of the condemnation `is' glory, much more doth the ministration of the righteousness abound in glory;
10 for also even that which hath been glorious, hath not been glorious -- in this respect, because of the superior glory;
11 for if that which is being made useless `is' through glory, much more that which is remaining `is' in glory.
12 Having, then, such hope, we use much freedom of speech,
13 and `are' not as Moses, who was putting a vail upon his own face, for the sons of Israel not stedfastly to look to the end of that which is being made useless,
14 but their minds were hardened, for unto this day the same vail at the reading of the Old Covenant doth remain unwithdrawn -- which in Christ is being made useless --
15 but till to-day, when Moses is read, a vail upon their heart doth lie,
16 and whenever they may turn unto the Lord, the vail is taken away.
17 And the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord `is', there `is' liberty;
18 and we all, with unvailed face, the glory of the Lord beholding in a mirror, to the same image are being transformed, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Frequently Asked Questions
What point is Paul making in 2 Corinthians 3?
What does 2 Corinthians 3:17 mean by 'where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty'?
Why does Paul talk about Moses wearing a veil in this chapter?
Today's Verse
And the cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim unto the fire that was between the cherubim, and took `thereof', and put it into the hands of him that was clothed in linen, who took it and went out.
Verse Of The DayPaul's declaration that 'where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty' in 2 Corinthians 3:17 anchors the chapter's theme of freedom from the veiled law. The unveiled beholding of God's glory here sets up the light described in 2 Corinthians 4:6.
