1 For we are conscious that if this our tent of flesh is taken down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in heaven.2 For in this we are crying in weariness, greatly desiring to be clothed with our house from heaven:3 So that our spirits may not be unclothed.4 For truly, we who are in this tent do give out cries of weariness, for the weight of care which is on us; not because we are desiring to be free from the body, but so that we may have our new body, and death may be overcome by life.5 Now he who has made us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a witness of what is to come.6 So, then, we are ever without fear, and though conscious that while we are in the body we are away from the Lord,7 (For we are walking by faith, not by seeing,)8 We are without fear, desiring to be free from the body, and to be with the Lord.9 For this reason we make it our purpose, in the body or away from it, to be well-pleasing to him.10 For we all have to come before Christ to be judged; so that every one of us may get his reward for the things done in the body, good or bad.11 Having in mind, then, the fear of the Lord, we put these things before men, but God sees our hearts; and it is my hope that we may seem right in your eyes.12 We are not again requesting your approval, but we are giving you the chance of taking pride in us, so that you may be able to give an answer to those whose glory is in seeming, and not in the heart.13 For if we are foolish, it is to God; or if we are serious, it is for you.14 For it is the love of Christ which is moving us; because we are of the opinion that if one was put to death for all, then all have undergone death;15 And that he underwent death for all, so that the living might no longer be living to themselves, but to him who underwent death for them and came back from the dead.16 For this reason, from this time forward we have knowledge of no man after the flesh: even if we have had knowledge of Christ after the flesh, we have no longer any such knowledge.17 So if any man is in Christ, he is in a new world: the old things have come to an end; they have truly become new.18 But all things are of God, who has made us at peace with himself through Christ, and has given to us the work of making peace;19 That is, that God was in Christ making peace between the world and himself, not putting their sins to their account, and having given to us the preaching of this news of peace.20 So we are the representatives of Christ, as if God was making a request to you through us: we make our request to you, in the name of Christ, be at peace with God.21 For him who had no knowledge of sin God made to be sin for us; so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

1 Scimus enim quoniam si terrestris domus nostra hujus habitationis dissolvatur, quod dificationem ex Deo habemus, domum non manufactam, ternam in clis. 2 Nam et in hoc ingemiscimus, habitationem nostram, qu de clo est, superindui cupientes : 3 si tamen vestiti, non nudi inveniamur. 4 Nam et qui sumus in hoc tabernaculo, ingemiscimus gravati : eo quod nolumus expoliari, sed supervestiri, ut absorbeatur quod mortale est, a vita. 5 Qui autem efficit nos in hoc ipsum, Deus, qui dedit nobis pignus Spiritus. 6 Audentes igitur semper, scientes quoniam dum sumus in corpore, peregrinamur a Domino 7 (per fidem enim ambulamus, et non per speciem) : 8 audemus autem, et bonam voluntatem habemus magis peregrinari a corpore, et prsentes esse ad Dominum. 9 Et ideo contendimus, sive absentes, sive prsentes, placere illi. 10 Omnes enim non manifestari oportet ante tribunal Christi, ut referat unusquisque propria corporis, prout gessit, sive bonum, sive malum.11 Scientes ergo timorem Domini, hominibus suademus, Deo autem manifesti sumus. Spero autem et in conscientiis vestris manifestos nos esse. 12 Non iterum commendamus nos vobis, sed occasionem damus vobis gloriandi pro nobis : ut habeatis ad eos qui in facie gloriantur, et non in corde. 13 Sive enim mente excedimus Deo : sive sobrii sumus, vobis. 14 Caritas enim Christi urget nos : stimantes hoc, quoniam si unus pro omnibus mortuus est, ergo omnes mortui sunt : 15 et pro omnibus mortuus est Christus : ut, et qui vivunt, jam non sibi vivant, sed ei qui pro ipsis mortuus est et resurrexit. 16 Itaque nos ex hoc neminem novimus secundum carnem. Et si cognovimus secundum carnem Christum, sed nunc jam non novimus. 17 Si qua ergo in Christo nova creatura, vetera transierunt : ecce facta sunt omnia nova. 18 Omnia autem ex Deo, qui nos reconciliavit sibi per Christum : et dedit nobis ministerium reconciliationis, 19 quoniam quidem Deus erat in Christo mundum reconcilians sibi, non reputans illis delicta ipsorum, et posuit in nobis verbum reconciliationis. 20 Pro Christo ergo legatione fungimur, tamquam Deo exhortante per nos. Obsecramus pro Christo, reconciliamini Deo. 21 Eum, qui non noverat peccatum, pro nobis peccatum fecit, ut nos efficeremur justitia Dei in ipso.