2 Corinthians · 21 verses
2 Corinthians 5
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
The heavenly hope arrives with a wardrobe problem: nobody longs to be unclothed, only clothed, until mortality is swallowed up by life.
A house beyond the tentvv. 1–10
The earthly body is called a tent, liable to dismantling, while the promised dwelling is an eternal house from God. The desired change is remarkably sartorial: the speakers groan under their burdens, longing to be clothed with their heavenly dwelling, not left naked. Confidence sits beside homesickness, since being at home in the body means being away from the Lord. Then comes the judgment seat of Christ, where each receives what is due for what was done in the body—good or bad, with no tailoring mentioned.
Madness, sanity, and a new creationvv. 11–17
Knowing what it means to fear the Lord, the speakers try to persuade people, while declining to commend themselves again. Their conduct has two possible explanations: if they are out of their mind, it is for God; if they are of sound mind, it is for the readers. Christ’s love supplies the hinge, and the old way of regarding people—including Christ himself—is discarded. In its place stands the splendidly abrupt verdict: anyone in Christ is a new creation.
The great exchangevv. 18–21
Everything now comes from God, who reconciles through Christ and entrusts a message of reconciliation to the speakers. They are ambassadors for Christ, with God making his appeal through them, and the appeal is plain: be reconciled to God. The chapter ends with its sharpest exchange: the one who knew no sin is made to be sin on behalf of others, so that in him they may become the righteousness of God.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
2 Cor 5:1For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
2 Cor 5:2For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,
2 Cor 5:3because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.
2 Cor 5:4For while we are in this tent, we groan under our burdens, because we do not wish to be unclothed but clothed, so that our mortality may be swallowed up by life.
2 Cor 5:5And it is God who has prepared us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a pledge of what is to come.
2 Cor 5:6Therefore we are always confident, although we know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord.
2 Cor 5:7For we walk by faith, not by sight.
2 Cor 5:8We are confident, then, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
2 Cor 5:9So we aspire to please Him, whether we are at home in this body or away from it.
2 Cor 5:10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.
2 Cor 5:11Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is clear to God, and I hope it is clear to your conscience as well.
2 Cor 5:12We are not commending ourselves to you again. Instead, we are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you can answer those who take pride in appearances rather than in the heart.
2 Cor 5:13If we are out of our mind, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you.
2 Cor 5:14For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, therefore all died.
2 Cor 5:15And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was raised again.
2 Cor 5:16So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.
2 Cor 5:17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!
2 Cor 5:18All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
2 Cor 5:19that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
2 Cor 5:20Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.
2 Cor 5:21God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
01 — Also here
Who else the chapter reaches
Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.
Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 428 passages were voted onto 21 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 17Ezekiel 36:26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
- 17Ephesians 4:22–24to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
- 17Isaiah 43:18–19“Do not call to mind the former things; pay no attention to the things of old.
- 17John 3:3Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
- 17Psalms 51:10Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
- 17Ezekiel 11:19And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh,
- 17Colossians 3:1–10Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
- 17Romans 8:1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
- 17Galatians 6:15For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a new creation.
- 7Hebrews 11:1–27Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.
- 211 Peter 2:22–24“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.”
- 211 Peter 3:18For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,
- 21Romans 5:19For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
- 72 Corinthians 4:18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
- 17Philippians 3:7–9But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ.
- 21Galatians 3:13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
Onward