2 Corinthians 3 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Ministers of the New Covenant

(cf. Jer 31:31–34 )

2Co 3:1Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you?

2Co 3:2

2Co 3:2You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our[fn] hearts, to be known and read by all.

2Co 3:3

2Co 3:3And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.[fn]

2Co 3:4

2Co 3:4Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.

2Co 3:5

2Co 3:5Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God,

2Co 3:6

2Co 3:6who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

2Co 3:7

2Co 3:7Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end,

2Co 3:8

2Co 3:8will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory?

2Co 3:9

2Co 3:9For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.

2Co 3:10

2Co 3:10Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it.

2Co 3:11

2Co 3:11For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

2Co 3:12

2Co 3:12Since we have such a hope, we are very bold,

2Co 3:13

2Co 3:13not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end.

2Co 3:14

2Co 3:14But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.

2Co 3:15

2Co 3:15Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts.

2Co 3:16

2Co 3:16But when one[fn] turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.

2Co 3:17

2Co 3:17Now the Lord[fn] is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

2Co 3:18

2Co 3:18And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,[fn] are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.[fn] For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(3:2)

Some manuscripts your

(3:3)

Greek fleshly hearts

(3:16)

Greek he

(3:17)

Or this Lord

(3:18)

Or reflecting the glory of the Lord

(3:18)

Greek from glory to glory

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

2 Corinthians Chapter 3 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Morphological Greek New Testament Textus Receptus Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras

2 Corinthians 3 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Ministers of the New Covenant

ESV Footnotes

2 Corinthians Chapter 3 — Additional Translations:

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