2 Corinthians
Chapter 5
1 We know that if our earthly body is destroyed, we have a home from God, a place not built by hands, lasting forever in heaven.
2 In this we deeply long to be covered by our heavenly home.
3 If we are clothed, we will not be found naked.
4 We who live in this body sigh because we feel heavy, not because we want to remove our bodies, but to add to them so that our dying can be completely absorbed by life.
5 God made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6 So we always feel sure, because we know that while we live in our bodies, we are away from God.
7 We live by trusting, not by seeing.
8 We are sure and would prefer to be away from our body and to be with God.
9 We work hard so that, whether we are with him or away from him, we may be pleasing to God.
10 We all must stand before Christ to be judged; so that each person receives what they did on Earth, good or bad.
11 Understanding God’s awesome power, we try to convince people; we are clearly seen by God, and I hope we are also clear in your hearts.
12 We are not praising ourselves to you again, but we are giving you a reason to be proud of us so you can have something to say to those who take pride in what they look like, rather than what is in their heart.
13 Whether we seem crazy, it’s for God, or if we act sensibly, it’s for you.
14 Christ’s love compels us; we believe that since one died for everyone, then everyone was dead.
15 He died for everyone, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and came back to life.
16 From now on, we don’t know anyone in a worldly way; even if we once knew Christ in this way, we don’t know him like that anymore.
17 So if anyone is with Christ, they are a new person: the old has gone, and everything is new.
18 Everything comes from God, who brought us back to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the task of bringing others back to him.
19 God was in Christ, bringing the world back to himself, not holding people’s sins against them; and he has trusted us with the message of reconciliation.
20 We are Christ’s representatives, and it’s as if God is asking you through us: we urge you on behalf of Christ, make peace with God.
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the goodness of God.