1 D o we begin again to recommend ourselves, except we need, as some, letters of recommendation unto you, or from you?

Are we making it sound as if we think we are so important? Other people write letters about themselves. Do we need to write such a letter to you?

2 o ur letter ye are, having been written in our hearts, known and read by all men,

You are our letter. You are written in our hearts. You are known and read by all men.

3 m anifested 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,

You are as a letter from Christ written by us. You are not written as other letters are written with ink, or on pieces of stone. You are written in human hearts by the Spirit of the living God.

4 a nd such trust we have through the Christ toward God,

We can say these things because of our faith in God through Christ.

5 n ot that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything, as of ourselves, but our sufficiency of God,

We know we are not able in ourselves to do any of this work. God makes us able to do these things.

6 w ho also made us sufficient ministrants of a new covenant, not of letter, but of spirit; for the letter doth kill, and the spirit doth make alive.

God is the One Who made us preachers of a New Way of Worship. This New Way of Worship is not of the Law. It is of the Holy Spirit. The Law brings death, but the Holy Spirit gives life.

7 a nd 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,

The Law of Moses was written on stone and it brought death. But God’s shining-greatness was seen when it was given. When Moses took it to the Jews, they could not look at his face because of the bright light. But that bright light in his face began to pass away.

8 h ow shall the ministration of the Spirit not be more in glory?

The new way of life through the Holy Spirit comes with much more shining-greatness.

9 f or if the ministration of the condemnation glory, much more doth the ministration of the righteousness abound in glory;

If the Law of Moses, that leads to death, came in shining-greatness, how much greater and brighter is the light that makes us right with God?

10 f or also even that which hath been glorious, hath not been glorious -- in this respect, because of the superior glory;

The Law of Moses came with shining-greatness long ago. But that light is no longer bright. The shining-greatness of the New Way of Worship that brings us life is so much brighter.

11 f or if that which is being made useless through glory, much more that which is remaining in glory.

The shining light that came with the Law of Moses soon passed away. But the new way of life is much brighter. It will never pass away.

12 H aving, then, such hope, we use much freedom of speech,

We speak without fear because our trust is in Christ.

13 a nd 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,

We are not like Moses. He put a covering over his face so the Jews would not see that the bright light was passing away.

14 b ut 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 --

Their minds were not able to understand. Even to this day when the Law is read, there is a covering over their minds. They do not see that Christ is the only One Who can take the covering away.

15 b ut till to-day, when Moses is read, a vail upon their heart doth lie,

Yes, to this day, there is a covering over their hearts whenever the Law of Moses is read.

16 a nd whenever they may turn unto the Lord, the vail is taken away.

But whenever a man turns to the Lord, the covering is taken away.

17 A nd the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord, there liberty;

The heart is free where the Spirit of the Lord is. The Lord is the Spirit.

18 a nd 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.

All of us, with no covering on our faces, show the shining-greatness of the Lord as in a mirror. All the time we are being changed to look like Him, with more and more of His shining-greatness. This change is from the Lord Who is the Spirit.