1 Are we starting over with introducing ourselves and our legitimacya all over again? We don’t need, as some do, letters of recommendation for you or from you, do we? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by all people. 3 You’re making it clearly visible that you are Christ’s letter, cared forb by us, not written with ink but with the Life-breathc of the God-who-is-alive, not on stone tabletsd but on tablets made of hearts of flesh.e
4 We have that kind of confidence in God through Christ. 5 It’s not because we are fit in and of ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves; rather, our fitness is from God, 6 who also made us fit to be servants of a new covenant,f not based on a written documentg but in the Life-breath, for the document kills, but the Life-breath gives life.
7 If the service of Death,h in documents engraved on stones, happened with renown—so much so that the children of Israel were not able to focus their attention on Moses’ facei because of the temporaryj radiant renownk on his face— 8 then how much more will the service of the Life-breath come with renown? 9 You see, if radiant renown came with the service that led to judgment against people, the service of justness overflows with renown even more. 10 In fact, in comparison, what had been renowned is no longer renowned because of the renown that goes further. 11 You see, if what is temporary came with radiant renown, how much more does what lasts come with renown!
12 Therefore, having that kind of hope, we make use of it with much confidence, 13 not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel wouldn’t focus their attention on the end of what was temporary.l 14 Nevertheless, their minds were numbed since, to this very day, the same veil remains over the reading of the old covenant, not unveiled because it is made temporary with Christ. 15 Still, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. 16 Nevertheless, whenever someone turns back to The One Who Is,m the veil is removed. 17 The One Who Is is the Life-breath, and where the Life-breath of The One Who Is is, there is freedom. 18 We who reflect the radiant renown of The One Who Is with unveiled faces are all transformedn into the same image from renown to renown, just as it comes from The One Who Is, the Life-breath.
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FOOTNOTES:
a The Greek verb sunistemi means to introduce, present, or associate oneself with someone. Here, Paul uses it sarcastically—rejecting the idea that he needs to reintroduce himself or prove his legitimacy to the very community he helped form.
b Or ‘served’
c Traditionally, ‘Spirit.’ The Greek word pneuma could be used to refer to ‘wind,’ ‘breath,’ or an animating energy within people, thought to be perceptible in the breath. Hebrew and Latin also use the same word for all these concepts. In scripture, it typically calls back the image to Genesis 1 and 2: “the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters” (Genesis 1:2 NASB) and “the Lord God formed the human from the topsoil of the fertile land and blew life’s breath into [its] nostrils. The human came to life.” (Genesis 2:7 CEB). In this case, it refers to the breath that animates someone with the quality of gentleness that comes from God, including the breath involved in speaking to people, which is often in view when “a spirit” is discussed, whether positively or negatively.
d Reference to Exodus 31:18
e Reference to Ezekiel 36:26-27 and Jeremiah 31:33
f Reference to Jeremiah 31:33
g This phrase is a reference to the stone tablets and later scrolls containing Torah and other scriptures.
h The Greek word Thanatos was not just the word for the concept of death but also the name of the god of death. Across Paul’s writings, he personifies death as a powerful figure overcome by Christ and the Life-breath.
i Reference to Exodus 34:29-35
j Literally, ‘counteracted’ but Paul makes it clear in many other parts of his writing that Torah was not bad or even in need of counteraction but that its role was temporary, not to be discarded but to be related to in a different way.
k The Greek word doxa, traditionally translated “glory,” here describes the visible brilliance and divine presence associated with transformation into Christ’s image. “Radiant renown” conveys both the shining character and the public recognition of divine presence, consistent with Paul’s contrast between the fading brilliance of Moses and the enduring radiance of the new covenant.
l Reference to Exodus 34:29-35
m Traditionally, ‘Lord.’ The Greek word kurios, when applied to Jesus, can be translated in several ways, including ‘sir,’ ‘master,’ or ‘sovereign.’ Rendering it as “Lord” reflects the feudal, patriarchal, and imperial assumptions embedded in early English translations, which often reinforced hierarchical power structures. In both Greco-Roman and American history, kurios and “lord” were titles used for slaveowners. As Dr. Wilda C. Gafney notes, “Lord is a slavery word,” and when used without theological and historical framing, it risks reinscribing the very systems of domination that Jesus came to upend (A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church: Year A, Introduction). In the Roman imperial context, kurios was also a title for Caesar—as was soter (‘savior’ or ‘liberator’). The New Testament’s application of kurios to Jesus is thus not only theological but also politically subversive. The Christ of the Christian scriptures is not an overlord but a radically different kind of sovereign—one who liberates through justice, solidarity, and self-giving love. Rendering kurios as “Liberating Sovereign” preserves the subversive edge of the title while resisting the hierarchical and enslaver connotations embedded in the English word “Lord.”
n This is the same word that is traditionally translated as ‘transfigured’ in Matthew 17:1–13, Mark 9:2–13, and Luke 9:28–36.