Servants of the New Agreement

3 Are we starting to ·brag about [praise; commend] ourselves again? Do we need letters of ·introduction [recommendation] to you or from you, like some other people [^CPaul’s opponents evidently carried letters of reference (perhaps from Jerusalem)]? ² You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone [^Cthe changed lives of the Corinthians prove Paul’s credibility as an apostle of Jesus Christ]. ³ You show that you are a letter from Christ ·sent through us [delivered by us; or produced by us; the result of our ministry]. This letter is not written with ink but ·with [by] the Spirit of the living God. It is not written on stone tablets [^Cthe law of Moses was written on stone tablets; Ex. 24:12; 32:16] but on human hearts [^Lhearts of flesh; Jer. 31:33; Ezek. 11:19; 36:26].

⁴ We can say this, because through Christ we ·feel certain before God [have confidence in God’s presence; or can trust in God]. ⁵ We are not saying that we ·can do this work ourselves [^Lare able/competent/adequate to consider anything as from ourselves]. ·It is God who makes us able to do all that we do [^LBut our ability/competence/adequacy is from God]. ⁶ He made us ·able [adequate; competent] to be servants of a new ·agreement from himself to his people [covenant; Jer. 31:31–34; Luke 22:20]. This new ·agreement [covenant] is not ·a written law [^Lof the letter], but it is of the Spirit. The ·written law [^Lletter] brings death, but the Spirit gives life.

⁷ The ·law [or old system; ^Lministry] that brought death was ·written in words [^Lengraved with letters] on stone. It came with ·God’s glory [^Lglory], which made Moses’ face so ·bright [glorious] that the ·Israelites [^Lchildren of Israel] could not ·continue to look [gaze] at it. But that glory ·later disappeared [was fading; or was made ineffective (by the veil on his face)]. ⁸ So ·surely [^Lwill not…?] the ·new way that brings [^Lministry of] the Spirit has even more glory. ⁹ [^LFor] If the ·law that judged people guilty of sin [^Lministry of condemnation] had glory, surely the ·new way that makes people right with God [^Lministry of righteousness] has much greater glory. ¹⁰ For that which had glory [^Cthe law] ·really loses its glory [^Lhas no glory] when it is compared to the much greater glory [^Cthe new way through the Spirit]. ¹¹ [^LFor] If that which ·disappeared [faded; was made ineffective; ^Cthe law; v. 7] came with glory, then that which ·continues forever [remains; abides; ^Cthe new way through the Spirit] has much greater glory.

¹² We have this hope, so we ·are very bold [or speak with boldness/confidence]. ¹³ We are not like Moses, who put a ·covering [veil] over his face so the ·Israelites [^Lchildren of Israel] would not see it [Ex. 34:29–35]. The glory was ·disappearing [fading; or made ineffective], and Moses did not want them to see it end. ¹⁴ But their minds were ·closed [stubborn; hardened], and even today that same ·covering [veil] ·hides the meaning [^Lremains] when they read the old ·agreement [covenant]. That covering is ·taken away [^Lnot lifted, because it is removed] only through Christ. ¹⁵ Even today, when they read ·the law of Moses [^LMoses], there is a ·covering over [^Lveil laying upon] their ·minds [hearts]. ¹⁶ But when a person ·changes and follows [^Lturns to] the Lord, that ·covering [veil] is taken away [Ex. 34:34]. ¹⁷ The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ ·Our faces, then, are not covered [^LWith an unveiled face…]. We all ·show [reflect; or behold; or contemplate] the Lord’s glory, and we are being ·changed [transformed] ·to be like him [^Linto the same image]. This change in us ·brings ever greater glory [or is from one degree of glory to another; ^Lis from glory to glory], which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.