that during a severe ordeal of suffering, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in the wealth of their generosity.

But until this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds,

And in their prayers on your behalf they long for you because of the extraordinary grace God has shown to you.

And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised.

Therefore “come out from their midst, and be separate,” says the Lord, “and touch no unclean thing, and I will welcome you,

Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions.

But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort that you experience in your patient endurance of the same sufferings that we also suffer.

But their minds were closed. For to this very day, the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read. It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away.

In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them, and he has given us the message of reconciliation.

And what mutual agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said, “I will live in them and will walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”