1 ^qAre we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, ^ras some do, ^sletters of recommendation to you, or from you? 2 ^tYou yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our¹ hearts, to be known and read by all. 3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of ^uthe living God, not on ^vtablets of stone but on ^wtablets of ^xhuman hearts.²

4 ^ySuch is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 ^zNot that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but ^aour sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ^bministers of ^ca new covenant, not of ^dthe letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but ^ethe Spirit gives life.