2 Corinthians 5

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 For we are well aware that when the tent that houses us on earth is folded up, there is a house for usfrom God, not made by human hands but everlasting, in the heavens.	1 For we know that if our earthly dwelling, a tent, should be destroyed, we have a building from God, a dwelling not made with hands, eternal in heaven.
2 And in this earthly state we do indeed groan,	2 For in this tent we groan, longing to be further clothed with our heavenly habitation
3 longing to put on our heavenly home over the present one; if indeed we are to be found clothed ratherthan stripped bare.	3 if indeed, when we have taken it off, we shall not be found naked.
4 Yes, indeed, in this present tent, we groan under the burden, not that we want to be stripped of ourcovering, but because we want to be covered with a second garment on top, so that what is mortal in us may beswal owed up by life.	4 For while we are in this tent we groan and are weighed down, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
5 It is God who designed us for this very purpose, and he has given us the Spirit as a pledge.	5 Now the one who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a first installment.
6 We are always ful of confidence, then, realising that as long as we are at home in the body we areexiled from the Lord,	6 So we are always courageous, although we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,
7 guided by faith and not yet by sight;	7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
8 we are ful of confidence, then, and long instead to be exiled from the body and to be at home with theLord.	8 Yet we are courageous, and we would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord.
9 And so whether at home or exiled, we make it our ambition to please him.	9 Therefore, we aspire to please him, whether we are at home or away.
10 For at the judgement seat of Christ we are al to be seen for what we are, so that each of us mayreceive what he has deserved in the body, matched to whatever he has done, good or bad.	10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.
11 And so it is with the fear of the Lord always in mind that we try to win people over. But God sees us forwhat we are, and I hope your consciences do too.	11 Therefore, since we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade others; but we are clearly apparent to God, and I hope we are also apparent to your consciousness.
12 Again we are saying this not to commend ourselves to you, but simply to give you the opportunity totake pride in us, so that you may have an answer for those who take pride in appearances and not inner reality.	12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you an opportunity to boast of us, so that you may have something to say to those who boast of external appearance rather than of the heart.
13 If we have been unreasonable, it was for God; if reasonable, for you.	13 For if we are out of our minds, it is for God; if we are rational, it is for you.
14 For the love of Christ overwhelms us when we consider that if one man died for all, then al have died;	14 For the love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all; therefore, all have died.
15 his purpose in dying for all humanity was that those who live should live not any more for themselves,but for him who died and was raised to life.	15 He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
16 From now onwards, then, we wil not consider anyone by human standards: even if we were oncefamiliar with Christ according to human standards, we do not know him in that way any longer.	16 Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh; even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer.
17 So for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation: the old order is gone and a new being is thereto see.	17 So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.
18 It is all God's work; he reconciled us to himself through Christ and he gave us the ministry ofreconciliation.	18 And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation,
19 I mean, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not holding anyone's faults against them,but entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.	19 namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
20 So we are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were urging you through us, and in the name ofChrist we appeal to you to be reconciled to God.	20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
21 For our sake he made the sinless one a victim for sin, so that in him we might become the uprightnessof God.	21 For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.