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¹ Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? or do we need, as do some, epistles of commendation to you or from you?² You are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men;³ being made manifest that you are an epistle of Christ, served by us, not written 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 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, [and] engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look steadfastly on the face of Moses for the glory of his face; which [glory] was passing away:⁸ how shall not rather the service of the spirit be with glory?⁹ For if in the service of condemnation [there is] glory, much rather does the service of righteousness exceed in glory.¹⁰ For truly 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 [are] not as Moses, [who] put a veil on his face, that the sons of Israel should not 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, it not being revealed [to them] that it is done away in Christ.¹⁵ But to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.¹⁶ But upon turning 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 all of us, with unveiled face looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.