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katapi HOME DB1 | Ministers of the New Covenant 2Cor.3.1-18 | NEB Contents | notes

3 New English Bible (New Testament) Passage New Testament in Greek (UBS.Ed.26)

3 1ARE WE BEGINNING all over again to produce our credentials? Do we, like some people, need letters of introduction to you, or from you?Ministers of the New Covenant 2Cor.3.1-18Ἀρχόμεθα πάλιν ἑαυτοὺς συνιστάνειν; ἢ μὴ χρῄζομεν ὡς τινες συστατικῶν ἐπιστολῶν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἢ ἐξ ὑμῶν;
2No, you are all the letter we need, a letter written on our heart; any man can see it for what it is and read it for himself. ἡ ἐπιστολὴ ἡμῶν ὑμεῖς ἐστε, ἐγγεγραμμένη ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν, γινωσκομένη καὶ ἀναγινωσκομένη ὑπὸ πάντων ἀνθρώπων·
3And as for you, it is plain that you are a letter that has come from Christ, given to us to deliver: a letter written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, written not on stone tablets but on the pages of the human heart.
 φανερούμενοι ὅτι ἐστὲ ἐπιστολὴ Χριστοῦ διακονηθεῖσα ὑφ' ἡμῶν, ἐγγεγραμμένη οὐ μέλανι ἀλλὰ πνεύματι θεοῦ ζῶντος, οὐκ ἐν πλαξὶν λιθίναις ἀλλ' ἐν πλαξὶν καρδίαις σαρκίναις.
4It is in full reliance upon God, through Christ, that we make such claims. Πεποίθησιν δὲ τοιαύτην ἐχομεν διὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ πρὸς τὸν θεόν.
5There is no question of our being qualified in ourselves: we cannot claim anything as our own. The qualification we have comes from God; οὐχ ὅτι ἀφ' ἑαυτῶν ἱκανοί ἐσμεν λογίσασθαί τι ὡς ἐξ ἑαυτῶν, ἀλλ' ἡ ἱκανότης ἡμῶν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ,
6it is he who has qualified us to dispense his new covenant—a covenant expressed not in a written document, but in a spiritual bond; for the written law condemns to death, but the Spirit gives life.
 ὃς καὶ ἱκάνωσεν ἡμᾶς διακόνους καινῆς διαθήκης, οὐ γράμματος ἀλλὰ πνεύματος· τὸ γὰρ γράμμα ἀποκτέννει, τὸ δὲ Πνεῦμα ζῳοποιεῖ.
7The law, then, engraved letter by letter upon stone, dispensed death, and yet it was inaugurated with divine splendour. That splendour, though it was soon to fade, made the face of Moses so bright that the Israelites could not gaze steadily at him. Εἰ δὲ ἡ διακονία τοῦ θανάτου ἐν γράμμασιν ἐντετυπωμένη λίθοις ἐγενήθη ἐν δόξῃ, ὡστε μὴ δύνασθαι ἀτενίσαι τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραὴλ εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον Μωϋσέως διὰ τὴν δόξαν τοῦ πρ οσώπου αὐτοῦ τὴν καταργουμένην,
8But if so, must not even greater splendour rest upon the divine dispensation of the Spirit? πῶς οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ἡ διακονία τοῦ πνεύματος ἐσται ἐν δόξῃ;
9If splendour accompanied the dispensation under which we are condemned, how much richer in splendour must that one be under which we are acquitted! εἰ γὰρ τῇ διακονίᾳ τῆς κατακρίσεως δόξα, πολλῷ μᾶλλον περισσεύει ἡ διακονία τῆς δικαιοσύνης δόξῃ.
10Indeed, the splendour that once was is now no splendour at all; it is outshone by a splendour greater still. καὶ γὰρ οὐ δεδόξασται τὸ δεδοξασμένον ἐν τούτῳ τῷ μέρει εἱνεκεν τῆς ὑπερβαλλούσης δόξης·
11For if that which was soon to fade had its moment of splendour, how much greater is the splendour of that which endures!
 εἰ γὰρ τὸ καταργούμενον διὰ δόξης, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τὸ μένον ἐν δόξῃ.
12With such a hope as this we speak out boldly; Ἔχοντες οὖν τοιαύτην ἐλπίδα πολλῇ παρρησίᾳ χρώμεθα,
13it is not for us to do as Moses did: he put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing on that fading splendour until it was gone. καὶ οὐ καθάπερ Μωϋσῆς ἐτίθει κάλυμμα ἐπὶ τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ, πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἀτενίσαι τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραὴλ εἰς τὸ τέλος τοῦ καταργουμένου.
14But in any case their minds had been made insensitive, for that same veil is there to this very day when the lesson is read from the old covenant; and it is never lifted, because only in Christ is the old covenant abrogated. Or: in Christ is it abolished. ἀλλὰ ἐπωρώθη τὰ νοήματα αὐτῶν. ἀχρι γὰρ τῆς σήμερον ἡμέρας τὸ αὐτὸ κάλυμμα ἐπὶ τῇ ἀναγνώσει τῆς παλαιᾶς διαθήκης μένει μὴ ἀνακαλυπτόμενον, ὅτι ἐν Χριστῷ καταργεῖται·
15But to this very day, every time the Law of Moses is read, a veil lies over the minds of the hearers. ἀλλ' ἑως σήμερον ἡνίκα ἂν ἀναγινώσκηται Μωϋσῆς κάλυμμα ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν αὐτῶν κεῖται·
16However, as Scripture says of Moses, 'whenever he turns to the Lord the veil is removed'. Or: as Scripture says, when one turns to the Lord the veil is removed. ἡνίκα δὲ ἐὰν ἐπιστρέψῃ πρὸς κύριον, περιαιρεῖται τὸ κάλυμμα.
17Now the Lord of whom this passage speaks is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. ὁ δὲ κύριος τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστιν· οὗ δὲ τὸ Πνεῦμα κυρίου, ἐλευθερία.
18And because for us there is no veil over the face, we all reflect as in a mirror the splendour of the Lord; thus we are transfigured into his likeness, from splendour to splendour; such is the influence of the Lord who is Spirit.
 ἡμεῖς δὲ πάντες ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ τὴν δόξαν κυρίου κατοπτριζόμενοι τὴν αὐτὴν εἰκόνα μεταμορφούμεθα ἀπὸ δόξης εἰς δόξαν, καθάπερ ἀπὸ κυρίου πνεύματος.

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