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2 Corinthians 3

1Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or surely we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2You are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by all people, 3showing that you are a letter of Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets that are hearts of flesh.

4Such is the confidence we have through Christ toward God. 5Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to count anything as coming from ourselves; rather, our sufficiency is from God, 6who has also made us sufficient as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

7Now if the service of death, engraved in letters on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not gaze at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, a glory being brought to an end, 8how will the service of the Spirit not be with glory all the more? 9For if there was glory in the service of condemnation, the service of righteousness overflows with glory far more. 10Indeed, what had been glorified has, in this respect, not been glorified, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11For if what was being brought to an end came through glory, what remains is in glory all the more.

12Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness, 13and not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not gaze at the end of what was being brought to an end. 14But their minds were hardened. For to this very day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant, not lifted, because it is brought to an end in Christ. 15But to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart. 16But whenever one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we all, with unveiled face, seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

Translation notes 9

3:1 — “Letters of recommendation.” Traveling teachers carried letters from other communities; “commend” and “recommendation” translate one Greek word family that recurs in 4:2; 5:12; 6:4; 7:11; 10:12, 18; 12:11. At 7:11 the contextual sense is demonstrative: “shown yourselves to be innocent.”

3:3 — “Delivered by us”; “hearts of flesh.” The first phrase renders a verb meaning to serve or minister: Paul and his coworkers are the letter's carriers or scribes, not its author. The tablets of stone recall Exodus 31:18; the hearts of flesh recall Ezekiel 11:19 and 36:26.

3:6 — “Servants”; “the letter kills.” “Servants” is the letter's ordinary service word, familiar as “ministers”; the related noun is “service” in verses 7–9 and later (“ministry”). “Letter” means the written code, contrasted with the Spirit; the verse is not a general contrast between literal and spiritual interpretation.

3:7, 13 — “Sons of Israel.” The explicit filial term is retained, as in Acts; it designates the people of Israel, not males only. The narrative is Exodus 34:29–35.

3:7–14 — “Being brought to an end.” One verb, used four times (verses 7, 11, 13, 14), means to render ineffective, abolish, or set aside. “Fading” is a common rendering that fits the image of Moses' face but is narrower than the verb. In verse 14 the Greek does not say whether it is the veil or the old covenant that is brought to an end in Christ, and “because” can also be read “that”; the study notes discuss the readings.

3:14 — “Old covenant.” The first known use of this phrase for the writings of Moses. It contrasts with the “new covenant” of verse 6.

3:16 — “Whenever one turns.” The Greek has no expressed subject; it echoes Exodus 34:34, where Moses removes the veil whenever he goes in before the Lord. The draft leaves the subject general.

3:17 — “The Lord is the Spirit.” The statement identifies “the Lord” of the Exodus passage just quoted with the Spirit; the draft does not expand or soften it.

3:18 — “Seeing … as in a mirror”; “from the Lord, the Spirit.” The rare verb can mean to behold as in a mirror or to reflect as a mirror does; the draft prints the first with the second as a live alternative. The closing phrase can be read “from the Lord who is the Spirit,” “from the Spirit of the Lord,” or “from the Lord's Spirit.”