1 So, because I hold a place in this ministry and that because I have had God's mercy shown me, I never give up.
2 On the other hand, I have renounced all underhanded, disgraceful methods; I neither practice cunning nor do I tamper with God's message, but by clear and candid statements of truth I try to commend myself to every human conscience in God's sight.
3 If the meaning of the good news I preach is covered up at all, it is so only in the case of those who are on the way to destruction.
4 In their case, the god of this world has blinded the eyes of the unbelievers, to keep the glorious light of the good news of Christ, who is the likeness of God, from dawning upon them.
5 For I am not proclaiming myself but Christ Jesus as Lord, and myself a slave of yours for Jesus' sake.
6 For God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in my heart, to give me the light of the knowledge of God's glory, reflected on the face of Christ.
7 But I am keeping this jewel in an earthen jar, to prove that its surpassing power is God's, not mine.
8 On every side I am ever hard-pressed, but never hemmed in; always perplexed, but never to the point of despair;
9 always being persecuted, but not deserted; always getting a knockdown, but never a knockout;
10 always being exposed to death as Jesus was, so that in my body the life of Jesus may be clearly shown.
11 For all the time I continue to live I am being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that in my mortal lower nature the life of Jesus may be clearly shown.
12 So it is death that works in me, but it is life that works in you.
13 Now since I have the same spirit of faith as he who said in the Scriptures, "I believed, and so I spoke," I too believe, and so I speak,
14 because I know that He who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will raise me too in fellowship with you.
15 For everything is for your sakes, in order that His favor by multiplying the thanksgiving of many may make the cup run over to the praise of God.
16 So I never give up; instead, although my outer nature is wasting away, my inner nature is constantly renewed from day to day.
17 For this slight and momentary sorrow continues to accumulate for me a solid and eternal glory far beyond any comparison,
18 because I do not keep my eyes on things that are seen but things that are unseen. For things that are seen are temporary, but things that are unseen are eternal.