2 Corinthians 4
1 Therefore, since God in his mercy has given us this new way, we never give up.
2 We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods.
We don’t try to trick anyone
or distort the word of God.
We tell the truth before God,
and all who are honest know this.
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6 For God, who said,
“Let there be light in the darkness,”
has made this light shine in our hearts
so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 We now have this light shining in our hearts,
but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.
This makes it clear that our great power is from God,
not from ourselves.
8 We are pressed on every side by troubles,
but we are not crushed.
We are perplexed,
but not driven to despair.
9 We are hunted down,
but never abandoned by God.
We get knocked down,
but we are not destroyed.
10 Through suffering,
our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus
so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.
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16 That is why we never give up.
Though our bodies are dying,
our spirits are being renewed every day.
17 For our present troubles are small
and won’t last very long.
Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them
and will last forever!
18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now;
rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.
For the things we see now will soon be gone,
but the things we cannot see will last forever.
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