Passage

2 Corinthians 3

Book: 2 Corinthians · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? or need we, as do some, epistles of commendation to you or from you? 2. Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men; 3. 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. 4. And such confidence have we through Christ to God-ward: 5. not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God; 6. 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. 7. But if the ministration of death, written, and engraven on stones, came 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 was passing away: 8. how shall not rather the ministration of the spirit be with glory? 9. For if the ministration of condemnation hath glory, much rather doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. 10. For verily that which hath been made glorious hath not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasseth. 11. For if that which passeth away was with glory, much more that which remaineth is in glory. 12. Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech, 13. and are not as Moses, who put a veil upon his face, that the children of Israel should not look stedfastly on the end of that which was passing away: 14. but their minds were hardened: for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remaineth, it not being revealed to them that it is done away in Christ. 15. But unto this day, whensoever Moses is read, a veil lieth upon their heart. 16. But whensoever it shall turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17. Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18. But we all, with unveiled face 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." (2 Corinthians 3:1-18, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as do some, letters of commendation to you or from you? 2. You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3. being revealed that you are a letter of Christ, served by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets of stone, but in tablets that are hearts of flesh. 4. Such confidence we have through Christ toward God; 5. not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God; 6. who 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. 7. But if the service of death, written engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly on the face of Moses for the glory of his face; which was passing away: 8. won’t service of the Spirit be with much more glory? 9. For if the service of condemnation has glory, the service of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. 10. For most certainly that which has been made glorious has not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasses. 11. For if that which passes away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory. 12. Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech, 13. and not as Moses, who put a veil on his face, that the children of Israel wouldn’t look steadfastly on the end of that which was passing away. 14. But their minds were hardened, for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains, because in Christ it passes away. 15. But to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. 16. But whenever one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17. Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18. But we all, with unveiled face seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3:1-18, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you? 2. Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: 3. Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the 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 fleshy tables of the heart. 4. And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: 5. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; 6. Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. ^{giveth life: or, quickeneth} 7. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: 8. How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? 9. For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. 10. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. 11. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. 12. Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: ^{plainness: or, boldness} 13. And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: 14. But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. 15. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 16. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 17. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. ^{by the: or, of the Lord the Spirit}" (2 Corinthians 3:1-18, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. Do we begin again to recommend ourselves, except we need, as some, letters of recommendation unto you, or from you? 2. our letter ye are, having been written in our hearts, known and read by all men, 3. manifested that ye are a letter of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not in the tablets of stone, but in fleshy tablets of the heart, 4. and such trust we have through the Christ toward God, 5. not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything, as of ourselves, but our sufficiency [is] of God, 6. who also made us sufficient [to be] ministrants of a new covenant, not of letter, but of spirit; for the letter doth kill, and the spirit doth make alive. 7. and if the ministration of the death, in letters, engraved in stones, came in glory, so that the sons of Israel were not able to look stedfastly to the face of Moses, because of the glory of his face, which was being made useless, 8. how shall the ministration of the Spirit not be more in glory? 9. for if the ministration of the condemnation [is] glory, much more doth the ministration of the righteousness abound in glory; 10. for also even that which hath been glorious, hath not been glorious, in this respect, because of the superior glory; 11. for if that which is being made useless [is] through glory, much more that which is remaining [is] in glory. 12. Having, then, such hope, we use much freedom of speech, 13. and [are] not as Moses, who was putting a vail upon his own face, for the sons of Israel not stedfastly to look to the end of that which is being made useless, 14. but their minds were hardened, for unto this day the same vail at the reading of the Old Covenant doth remain unwithdrawn, which in Christ is being made useless, 15. but till to-day, when Moses is read, a vail upon their heart doth lie, 16. and whenever they may turn unto the Lord, the vail is taken away. 17. And the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty; 18. and we all, with unvailed face, the glory of the Lord beholding in a mirror, to the same image are being transformed, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:1-18, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.