2 Corinthians 3

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves to you afresh -- as though we needed, like some others, tohave letters of commendation either to you or from you?	1 Must we begin again to commend ourselves? Or are we in need (as some are) of epistles of commendation for you, or from you?
2 You yourselves are our letter, written in our hearts, that everyone can read and understand;	2 You are our Epistle, written in our hearts, which is known and read by all men.
3 and it is plain that you are a letter from Christ, entrusted to our care, written not with ink but with theSpirit of the living God; not on stone tablets but on the tablets of human hearts.	3 It has been made manifest that you are the Epistle of Christ, ministered by us, and written down, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, and not on tablets of stone, but on the fleshly tablets of the heart.
4 Such is the confidence we have through Christ in facing God;	4 And we have such faith, through Christ, toward God.
5 it is not that we are so competent that we can claim any credit for ourselves; al our competence comesfrom God.	5 It is not that we are adequate to think anything of ourselves, as if anything was from us. But our adequacy is from God.
6 He has given us the competence to be ministers of a new covenant, a covenant which is not of writtenletters, but of the Spirit; for the written letters kill, but the Spirit gives life.	6 And he has made us suitable ministers of the New Testament, not in the letter, but in the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
7 Now if the administering of death, engraved in letters on stone, occurred in such glory that the Israelitescould not look Moses steadily in the face, because of its glory, transitory though this glory was,	7 But if the ministration of death, engraved with letters upon stones, was in glory, (so much so that the sons of Israel were not able to gaze intently upon the face of Moses, because of the glory of his countenance) even though this ministration was ineffective,
8 how much more will the ministry of the Spirit occur in glory!	8 how could the ministration of the Spirit not be in greater glory?
9 For if it is glorious to administer condemnation, to administer saving justice is far richer in glory.	9 For if the ministration of condemnation is with glory, so much more is the ministration of justice abundant in glory.
10 Indeed, what was once considered glorious has lost al claim to glory, by contrast with the glory whichtranscends it.	10 And neither was it glorified by means of an excellent glory, though it was made illustrious in its own way.
11 For if what was transitory had any glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts for ever.	11 For if even what was temporary has its glory, then what is lasting has an even greater glory.
12 With a hope like this, we can speak with complete fearlessness;	12 Therefore, having such a hope, we act with much confidence,
13 not like Moses who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites should not watch the end of what wastransitory.	13 and not as Moses did, in placing a veil over his face, so that the sons of Israel would not gaze intently at his face. This was ineffective,
14 But their minds were closed; indeed, until this very day, the same veil remains over the reading of theOld Testament: it is not lifted, for only in Christ is it done away with.	14 for their minds were obtuse. And, even until this present day, the very same veil, in the readings from the Old Testament, remains not taken away (though, in Christ, it is taken away).
15 As it is, to this day, whenever Moses is read, their hearts are covered with a veil,	15 But even until today, when Moses is read, a veil is still set over their hearts.
16 and this veil wil not be taken away til they turn to the Lord.	16 But when they will have been converted to the Lord, then the veil shall be taken away.
17 Now this Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.	17 Now the Spirit is Lord. And wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18 And al of us, with our unveiled faces like mirrors reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformedinto the image that we reflect in brighter and brighter glory; this is the working of the Lord who is the Spirit.	18 Yet truly, all of us, as we gaze upon the unveiled glory of the face of the Lord, are transfigured into the same image, from one glory to another. And this is done by the Spirit of the Lord.