| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | New Living Translation |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7For we live by believing and not by seeing. |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. We Are God’s Ambassadors |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too. |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12Are we commending ourselves to you again? No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart. |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. |
| 20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” |
| 21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 21For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. |
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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