Bible / 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 4

World English Bible, Catholic edition, in plain modern English. About the translations

1 Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, even as we obtained mercy, we don’t faint.

2 But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

3 Even if our Good News is veiled, it is veiled in those who are dying,

4 in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them. CCC · Fathers

5 For we don’t preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake,

6 seeing it is God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. CCC

7 But we have this treasure in clay vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves. CCC

8 We are pressed on every side, yet not crushed; perplexed, yet not to despair;

9 pursued, yet not forsaken; struck down, yet not destroyed;

10 always carrying in the body the putting to death of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. Fathers

11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus may be revealed in our mortal flesh. Fathers

12 So then death works in us, but life in you.

13 But having the same spirit of faith, according to that which is written, “I believed, and therefore I spoke.” We also believe, and therefore we also speak,

14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also through Jesus, and will present us with you. CCC

15 For all things are for your sakes, that the grace, being multiplied through the many, may cause the thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

16 Therefore we don’t faint, but though our outward person is decaying, yet our inward person is renewed day by day.

17 For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory,

18 while we don’t look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

This chapter in the Catechism and the early Church

Where the Catechism of the Catholic Church cites these verses (from its footnotes on vatican.va), and where the earliest Church Fathers quote them (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, public domain). Short quotes only; follow the links for the full text.

  1. Read the Catechism and Fathers
    • CCC 1701 “Christ, . . . in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love, makes man fully manifest…”
    • “As to their affirming that Paul said plainly in the Second [Epistle] to the Corinthians, "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not,”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book III, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter VII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

    • “… accordance with this word, therefore, does the apostle say, in the Second [Epistle] to the Corinthians: "In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ should shine [unto them].”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXIX. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  2. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 298 “Since God could create everything out of nothing, he can also, through the Holy Spirit, give spiritual life to sinners by creating…”
    • CCC 2583 “After Elijah had learned mercy during his retreat at the Wadi Cherith, he teaches the widow of Zarephath to believe in the…”
  3. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 1420 “Through the sacraments of Christian initiation, man receives the new life of Christ. Now we carry this life "in earthen vessels," and…”
  4. Read the Fathers
    • “For if we who live are delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, it is that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  5. Read the Fathers
    • “For what sensible thing can they say, if they endeavour to interpret otherwise this which he writes: "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality;" and, "That the life of Jesus may be made manifest in our mortal flesh;”

      Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1

  6. Read the Catechism
    • CCC 989 “We firmly believe, and hence we hope that, just as Christ is truly risen from the dead and lives for ever, so…”