Happy Easter! One of the most revelatory verses for my personal life with God over the last year or two has been 2nd Corinthians 5 (specifically verses 13-19). To celebrate Good Friday, and the wonderful meaning of Jesus’ death, I have compiled a few (11) of my favorite translations of 2 Corinthians 5. Some of them are wordy, some clever, some profound. But overall, I hope these translation treasures will breath new life into the Gospel for you!
(All italics: emphasis mine.)
Kenneth Wuest New Testament
13-14 For, whether we were out of our mind, it was with respect to God; whether we are of sober mind, it is with respect to you. For the Love which Christ has for me presses on me from all sides, holding me to one end, and prohibiting me from consider any other, wrapping itself around me in tenderness, giving me an impelling motive, having brought me to this conclusion, namely, that One died on behalf of all, therefore, all died.
17 So that, assuming that anyone is in Christ, he is a creation new in quality. The antiquated, out-of-date things [which do not belong to the new life in Christ] have passed away. Behold, all things have become new in quality.
J.B. Phillips
13-14 If we are “mad” it is for God’s glory; if we are perfectly sane it is for your benefit. The very spring of our actions is the love of Christ. We look at it like this: if one died for all men, then, in a sense, they all died.
17-19 For if a man is in Christ he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new. All this is God’s doing, for He has reconciled us to Himself through Christ; and He has made us agents of the reconciliation. God was in Christ personally reconciling the world to Himself—not counting their sins against them…
New English Bible
13-14 It may be that we are beside ourselves, but it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ leaves us no choice: when once we have reached the conclusion that one man died for all and therefore all mankind has died.
17 When anyone is united to Christ, there is a new world; the old order has gone, and a new order has already begun.
Today’s English Version
13-14 Are we really insane? It is for God’s sake. Or are we sane? It is for your sake. We are ruled by Christ’s love for us, now that we recognize that one man died for all men, which means that all men take part in His death.
17-19 When anyone is joined to Christ he is a new being: the old is gone, the new has come. All this is done by God, who through Christ changes us from enemies into His friends, and gave us the task of making others His friends also. Our message is that God was making friends of all men through Christ. God did not keep an account of their sins against them, and He has given us to message of how He makes them His friends.
21 Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made Him share our sin in order that we, in union with Him, might share the righteousness of God.
The Living Bible
19 For God was in Christ restoring the world to Himself, no longer counting men’s sins against them but blotting them out. This is the wonderful message He has given us to tell others.
21 For God took the sinless Christ and poured into Him our sins. Then, in exchange, He poured God’s goodness into us!
Jerusalem Bible
14 And this is because the love of Christ overwhelms us when we reflect that if one man has died for all, then all men should be dead.
17 And for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old creation has gone, and now the new one is here.
Monsingor Ronald Knox Translation
15 Christ died for us all, so that being alive should no longer mean living with our own life, but with His life who died for us and has risen again.
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, his old life has disappeared; everything has become new about him.
The Twentieth Century New Testament
17 Therefore, if anyone is in union with Christ, he is a new being. His old life has passed away; a new life has begun!
The Cotton Patch Version
13-14 For whether we’re off our rocker, it is for God; or whether we’re sober as a judge, it is for you. For we are hemmed in by Christ’s love for us all. We are convinced of this: that One died for us all. In a sense, then, we all died when He died for all.
17-19 Therefore, if a man is a Christian he is a brand new creation. The old guy is gone: look, a new man has appeared. This is God’s doing all the way through. It is He who, through Christ, bridged the gap between Himself and us and who has given us the job of also bridging the gap. God was in Christ, hugging the world to Himself. He no longer keeps track of men’s sins, and has planted in us his concern for getting together.
St. Paul From the Trenches
14-15 I behold the love of Christ, I see in His one death the death of all of us already accomplished after the manner of His death—the death that is to say of all that separates us from God, the death of that personal physical ego, and the release in consequence of that infinite and unselfish life which is the love of Christ, and the life of Christ, who died and rose afterwards, that it might be available for all.
17 Man is a new creation. All former views of man now perish. He is a new being, all is new and wonderful.
The Message Bible
13-15 Christ’s love has moved me to such extremes. His love has the first and last word in everything we do. Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.
19 God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins.
20 Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.
21 How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.
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