Treasure in clay jars
1Therefore, since by God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2We have renounced the hidden things that bring shame; we do not resort to cunning, and we do not falsify the word of God. By the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to every human conscience in the sight of God. 3And if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4to unbelievers whose minds the god of this age has blinded, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of the Christ, who is the image of God. 5For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6For the God who said, “Out of darkness light shall shine,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Christ. 7But we hold this treasure in clay jars, so that the surpassing power may be seen to be God’s and not ours. 8We are pressed from every side but not crushed; at a loss but never at the end of hope; 9hunted but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed. 10Always we carry in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11For we who live are always being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our mortal flesh. 12So death is at work in us, and life in you. 13We have that same spirit of faith of which it is written, “I believed, and so I spoke.” We too believe, and so we speak, 14knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us into his presence together with you. 15All of it is for your sake, so that grace, as it reaches more and more people, may make thanksgiving overflow to the glory of God.
An eternal weight of glory
16So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day after day. 17For this slight, momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, 18as we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen; for what is seen is passing, and what is unseen is eternal.
