| 4:1 | Therefore, since we have this ministry, just as God has shown us mercy,* we do not become discouraged.* |
| 4:2 | But we have rejected* shameful hidden deeds,* not behaving* with deceptiveness* or distorting the word of God, but by open proclamation of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience before God. |
| 4:3 | But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing, |
| 4:4 | among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe* so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel* of Christ,* who is the image of God. |
| 4:5 | For we do not proclaim* ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves* for Jesus’ sake. |
| 4:6 | For God, who said “Let light shine out of darkness,”* is the one who shined in our hearts to give us the light of the glorious knowledge* of God in the face of Christ.* |
| 4:7 | But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that the extraordinary power* belongs to God and does not come from us. |
| 4:8 | We are experiencing trouble on every side,* but are not crushed; we are perplexed,* but not driven to despair; |
| 4:9 | we are persecuted, but not abandoned;* we are knocked down,* but not destroyed, |
| 4:10 | always carrying around in our body the death of Jesus,* so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible* in our body. |
| 4:11 | For we who are alive are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible* in our mortal body.* |
| 4:12 | As a result,* death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.* |
| 4:13 | But since we have the same spirit of faith as that shown in* what has been written, “I believed; therefore I spoke,”* we also believe, therefore we also speak. |
| 4:14 | We do so* because we know that the one who raised up Jesus* will also raise us up with Jesus and will bring us with you into his presence. |
| 4:15 | For all these things are for your sake, so that the grace that is including* more and more people may cause thanksgiving to increase* to the glory of God. |
| 4:16 | Therefore we do not despair,* but even if our physical body* is wearing away, our inner person* is being renewed day by day. |
| 4:17 | For our momentary, light suffering* is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison |
| 4:18 | because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal. |
2 Corinthians 4 - NET Bible [draft]
