Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? or need we, as do some, epistles of commendation to you or from you?
Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men;
being made manifest that ye are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in tables that are hearts of flesh.
And such confidence have we through Christ to God-ward:
not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God;
who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
But if the ministration of death, {Greek: in letters.}written, and engraven on stones, came {Greek: in.}with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look stedfastly upon the face of Moses for the glory of his face; which glory {Or, was being done away Compare 1 Corinthians 13:8, 10.}was passing away:
how shall not rather the ministration of the spirit be with glory?
{Many ancient authorities read For if the ministration of condemnation is glory.}For if the ministration of condemnation hath glory, much rather doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
For verily that which hath been made glorious hath not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasseth.
For if that which {Or, is being done away See verse 7 margin.}passeth away was {Greek: through.}with glory, much more that which remaineth is in glory.
Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech,
and are not as Moses, who put a veil upon his face, that the children of Israel should not look stedfastly {Or, unto}on the end of that which {Or, was being done away See verse 7 margin.}was passing away:
but their {Greek: thoughts. Chapter 4:4, 11:3}minds were hardened: for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil {Or, remaineth unlifted: which veil is done away}remaineth, it not being revealed to them that it is done away in Christ.
But unto this day, whensoever Moses is read, a veil lieth upon their heart.
But whensoever {Or, a man shall turn}it shall turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
But we all, with unveiled face {Or, reflecting as a mirror}beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.
Querverweise zu 2. Korinther 3,14 2Kor 3,14
And even if our {See marginal note on chapter 2:12.}gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that {Or, are perishing}perish:
Seeing it is God, that said, {Genesis 1:3.}Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the {Greek: illumination.}light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
in whom the god of this {Or, age}world hath blinded the {Greek: thoughts. Chapter 4:4, 11:3}minds of the unbelieving, {Or, that they should not see the light…image of God}that the {Greek: illumination.}light of the {See marginal note on chapter 2:12.}gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them.
And he will {Hebrew: swallow up.}destroy in this mountain the face of the covering that covereth all peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations.
Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see;And make their loins continually to shake.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven.
Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and {Or, their heart should understand}understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.
And he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all the things that are written through the prophets shall be accomplished unto the Son of man.
For he shall be {Or, betrayed}delivered up unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and shamefully treated, and spit upon:
and they shall scourge and kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.
And they understood none of these things; and this saying was hid from them, and they perceived not the things that were said.
Let favor be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness will he deal wrongfully, and will not behold the majesty of Jehovah.
Jehovah, thy hand is lifted up, yet they see not: but they shall see {Or, and be put to shame, in their envy at the people}thy zeal for the people, and be put to shame; yea, {Or, the fire of thine adversaries shall devour them}fire shall devour thine adversaries.
Jehovah, thou wilt ordain peace for us; for thou hast also wrought all our works for us.
And he said unto them, O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe {Or, after}in all that the prophets have spoken!
Behooved it not the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into his glory?
And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.
Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I send? who is blind as he that is {Or, made perfect}at peace with me, and blind as Jehovah's servant?
Thou seest many things, but thou observest not; his ears are open, but he heareth not.
And he said unto them, These are my words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me.
Then opened he their mind, that they might understand the scriptures;
and he said unto them, Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day;
They know not, neither do they consider: for he hath {Hebrew: daubed.}shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
Again therefore Jesus spake unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.
His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.
I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me may not abide in the darkness.
We grope for the wall like the blind; yea, we grope as they that have no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the twilight; {Or, we are in dark places like the dead}among them that are lusty we are as dead men.
And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, one that worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened to give heed unto the things which were spoken by Paul.
Hear now this, O foolish people, and without {Hebrew: heart.}understanding; that have eyes, and see not; that have ears, and hear not:
to open their eyes, {Or, to turn them}that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me.
Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of the rebellious house, that have eyes to see, and see not, that have ears to hear, and hear not; for they are a rebellious house.
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him;
having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
and what the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might
which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places,
But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness!
And he answered and said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Therefore speak I to them in parables; because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
And unto them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, {Isaiah 6:9, 10.}By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand;And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive:
For this people's heart is waxed gross,And their ears are dull of hearing,And their eyes they have closed;Lest haply they should perceive with their eyes,And hear with their ears,And understand with their heart,And should turn again,And I should heal them.
And Jesus said, For judgment came I into this world, that they that see not may see; and that they that see may become blind.
Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said unto him, Are we also blind?
Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye would have no sin: but now ye say, We see: your sin remaineth.
{Isaiah 6:10}He hath blinded their eyes, and he hardened their heart;Lest they should see with their eyes,and perceive with their heart,And should turn,And I should heal them.
saying, {Isaiah 6:9, 10}Go thou unto this people, and say,By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand;And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive:
For this people's heart is waxed gross,And their ears are dull of hearing,And their eyes they have closed;Lest, haply they should perceive with their eyes,And hear with their ears,And understand with their heart,And should turn again,And I should heal them.
What then? That which Israel seeketh for, that he obtained not; but the election obtained it, and the rest were hardened:
according as it is written, {Isaiah 29:10; Deuteronomy 29:4.}God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this very day.
And David saith, {Psalm 69:22 f.}Let their table be made a snare, and a trap,And a stumblingblock, and a recompense unto them:
Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see,And bow thou down their back always.
For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that a hardening in part hath befallen Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in;