1 Are we once more putting ourselves forward {synistanein: formal self-introduction}, or do we need, as some do, letters {epistolon: written endorsements} that commend us—either addressed to you or issued from you?
2 You yourselves are our letter {epistole: written message}, written within our hearts {kardia: inner life}, and it is recognized and read by all people.
3 You make it evident that you are a letter {epistole: visible testimony} of Christ {Christos, Covenant Mediator}, prepared through our ministry, written not in ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on tablets—hearts of flesh.
4 And this kind of confidence {pepoithesin: firm reliance} we hold through Christ {Christos, Gracious Mediator} as we stand before God {Theos, Trusted God}.
5 Not that we are sufficient {hikanoi: fully adequate} by ourselves to reckon anything as coming from ourselves; rather, our sufficiency is from God {Theos, Source Of Sufficiency}.
6 He {Theos, Sufficiency Giver} has also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit {pneuma, Life-Giving Presence}; for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life.
7 But if the ministry {diakonia: covenant service} that ends in death—letters engraved on stones {lithois: tablet slabs}—was presented in glory, so that the sons of Israel could not gaze at Moses’ face because of the brilliance of his countenance, a glory that was being brought to an end.
8 How much more will the ministry of the Spirit {pneumatos, Life-Giving Presence} be marked by glory {doxe: radiant majesty}?
9 For if glory belongs to the ministry {diakonia: covenant service} that brings condemnation {katakrisis: verdict of guilt}, far more does the ministry of righteousness overflow with glory.
10 Indeed, what was once glorified has, in this aspect {merei: particular sphere}, lost its glory {doxes: superior splendor}, because the surpassing glory overwhelms it.
11 For if what is being abolished {katargoumenon: rendered ineffective} came with glory {doxe: manifested splendor}, much more will what remains stand in glory.
12 Therefore, having such {toiauten: of this kind} hope, we speak with great boldness {parresia: frank openness}.
13 And we are not like Moses {Mouses: covenant mediator}, who continually covered his face with a veil to prevent the sons of Israel from gazing at the end {telos: outcome} of what was being set aside.
14 But their minds {noemata: inner perceptions} were hardened; for until this very day the same veil remains over the reading of the old covenant, not being lifted, because the veil is abolished only in Christ {Christos, Covenant Fulfillment}.
15 Yet to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil {kalyma: spiritual barrier} rests across their heart {kardia: inner understanding}.
16 But whenever one turns to the Lord {Kyrios, Veil Remover}, the veil {kalyma: symbolic barrier} is taken away.
17 Now the Lord {Kyrios, Sovereign Redeemer} is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is liberty {eleutheria: release from bondage}.
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord {Kyrios, Source of Transformation}, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, who is the Spirit {pneuma, Transforming Presence}.