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2 Corinthians 5
Easy-to-Read Version
2 Corinthians 5
Easy-to-Read Version
5 We know that our body—the tent we live in here on earth—will be destroyed. But when that happens, God will have a home for us to live in. It will not be the kind of home people build here. It will be a home in heaven that will continue forever. 2 But now we are tired of this body. We want God to give us our heavenly home. 3 It will clothe us and we will not be naked. 4 While we live in this tent, we have burdens and so we complain. I don’t mean that we want to remove this tent, but we want to be clothed with our heavenly home. Then this body that dies will be covered with life. 5 This is what God himself made us for. And he has given us the Spirit as the first payment to guarantee the life to come.
6 So we always have confidence. We know that while we live in this body, we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by what we believe will happen, not by what we can see. 8 So I say that we have confidence. And we really want to be away from this body and be at home with the Lord. 9 Our only goal is to always please the Lord, whether we are living here in this body or there with him. 10 We must all stand before Christ to be judged. Everyone will get what they should. They will be paid for whatever they did—good or bad—when they lived in this earthly body.
Helping People Become God’s Friends
11 We know what it means to fear the Lord, so we try to help people accept the truth. God knows what we really are, and I hope that in your hearts you know us too. 12 We are not trying to prove ourselves to you again. But we are telling you about ourselves. We are giving you reasons to be proud of us. Then you will have an answer for those who are proud about what can be seen. They don’t care about what is in a person’s heart. 13 If we are crazy, it is for God. If we have our right mind, it is for you. 14 The love of Christ controls us, because we know that one person died for everyone. So all have died. 15 He died for all so that those who live would not continue to live for themselves. He died for them and was raised from death so that they would live for him.
16 From this time on we don’t think of anyone as the world thinks of people. It is true that in the past we thought of Christ as the world thinks. But we don’t think that way now. 17 When anyone is in Christ, it is a whole new world.[a] The old things are gone; suddenly, everything is new! 18 All this is from God. Through Christ, God made peace between himself and us. And God gave us the work of bringing people into peace with him. 19 I mean that God was in Christ, making peace between the world and himself. In Christ, God did not hold people guilty for their sins. And he gave us this message of peace to tell people. 20 So we have been sent to speak for Christ. It is like God is calling to people through us. We speak for Christ when we beg you to be at peace with God. 21 Christ had no sin, but God made him become sin[b] so that in Christ we could be right with God.
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 When anyone … world Or “Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation.”
- 2 Corinthians 5:21 sin Or “an offering for sin.”
2 Corinthians 5
New International Version
2 Corinthians 5
New International Version
Awaiting the New Body
5 For we know that if the earthly(A) tent(B) we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan,(C) longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,(D) 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan(E) and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,(F) so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.(G)
6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight.(H) 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.(I) 9 So we make it our goal to please him,(J) whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us(K) for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
The Ministry of Reconciliation
11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord,(L) we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.(M) 12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again,(N) but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us,(O) so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13 If we are “out of our mind,”(P) as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.(Q) 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves(R) but for him who died for them(S) and was raised again.
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly(T) point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,(U) the new creation(V) has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!(W) 18 All this is from God,(X) who reconciled us to himself through Christ(Y) and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.(Z) And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors,(AA) as though God were making his appeal through us.(AB) We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.(AC) 21 God made him who had no sin(AD) to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.(AE)
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 Or Christ, that person is a new creation.
- 2 Corinthians 5:21 Or be a sin offering
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
New International Version (NIV) 
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