Bible / 2 Corinthians
2 Corinthians 5
Douay-Rheims Bible, Challoner revision (1749–1752), the traditional Catholic English Bible, translated from the Latin Vulgate. If you read a modern Bible, this is the same Scripture in older English; some names are spelled differently (Cesarea for Caesarea, Apocalypse for Revelation). About this translation
1 For we know, if our earthly house of this habitation be dissolved, that we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in heaven. CCC
2 For in this also we groan, desiring to be clothed upon with our habitation that is from heaven. CCC
3 Yet so that we be found clothed, not naked.
4 For we also, who are in this tabernacle, do groan, being burthened; because we would not be unclothed, but clothed upon, that that which is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Fathers
5 Now he that maketh us for this very thing is God, who hath given us the pledge of the Spirit,
6 Therefore having always confidence, knowing that while we are in the body we are absent from the Lord. CCC
7 (For we walk by faith and not by sight.) CCC
8 But we are confident and have a good will to be absent rather from the body and to be present with the Lord. CCC
9 And therefore we labour, whether absent or present, to please him.
10 For we must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the proper things of the body, according as he hath done, whether it be good or evil. Fathers
11 Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we use persuasion to men: but to God we are manifest. And I trust also that in your consciences we are manifest.
12 We commend not ourselves again to you, but give you occasion to glory in our behalf: that you may have somewhat to answer them who glory in face, and not in heart.
13 For whether we be transported in mind, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for you.
14 For the charity of Christ presseth us: judging this, that if one died for all, then all were dead. CCC
15 And Christ died for all: that they also who live may not now live to themselves, but unto him who died for them and rose again. CCC
16 Wherefore henceforth, we know no man according to the flesh. And if we have known Christ according to the flesh: but now we know him so no longer.
17 If then any be in Christ a new creature, the old things are passed away. Behold all things are made new. CCC
18 But all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Christ and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. CCC
19 For God indeed was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing to them their sins. And he hath placed in us the word of reconciliation. CCC
20 For Christ therefore we are ambassadors, God as it were exhorting by us, for Christ, we beseech you, be reconciled to God. CCC
21 Him, who knew no sin, he hath made sin for us: that we might be made the justice of God in him. CCC
This chapter in the Catechism and the early Church
Where the Catechism of the Catholic Church cites these verses (from its footnotes on vatican.va), and where the earliest Church Fathers quote them (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, public domain). Short quotes only; follow the links for the full text.
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- CCC 1420 “Through the sacraments of Christian initiation, man receives the new life of Christ. Now we carry this life "in earthen vessels," and…”
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- CCC 2796 “When the Church prays "our Father who art in heaven," she is professing that we are the People of God, already seated…”
Read the Fathers
“… the Gospel of your salvation, believing in which we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance." This earnest, therefore, thus dwelling in us, renders us spiritual even now, and the mortal is swallowed up by immortality.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter VIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
“He who has perfected us for this very thing is God, who also has given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
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- CCC 769 “The Church . . . will receive its perfection only in the glory of heaven," at the time of Christ's glorious return.…”
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- CCC 164 “Now, however, "we walk by faith, not by sight"; we perceive God as "in a mirror, dimly" and only "in part". Even…”
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- CCC 1005 “To rise with Christ, we must die with Christ: we must "be away from the body and at home with the Lord."…”
- CCC 1021 “Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ.…”
- CCC 1681 “The Christian meaning of death is revealed in the light of the Paschal mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ in…”
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“If then we entreat the Lord to forgive us, we ought also ourselves to forgive; for we are before the eyes of our Lord and God, and "we must all appear at the judgment-seat of Christ, and must every one give an account of himself.”
Quoted in Letter to the Philippians, St. Polycarp of Smyrna (early 2nd century), Chapter VI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
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- CCC 605 “At the end of the parable of the lost sheep Jesus recalled that God's love excludes no one: "So it is not…”
- CCC 655 “Finally, Christ's Resurrection - and the risen Christ himself is the principle and source of our future resurrection: "Christ has been raised…”
- CCC 1269 “Having become a member of the Church, the person baptized belongs no longer to himself, but to him who died and rose…”
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- CCC 1214 “This sacrament is called Baptism, after the central rite by which it is carried out: to baptize (Greek baptizein) means to "plunge"…”
- CCC 1265 “Baptism not only purifies from all sins, but also makes the neophyte "a new creature," an adopted son of God, who has…”
- CCC 1999 “The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that God makes to us of his own life, infused by the Holy Spirit…”
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- CCC 981 “After his Resurrection, Christ sent his apostles "so that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all…”
- CCC 1442 “Christ has willed that in her prayer and life and action his whole Church should be the sign and instrument of the…”
- CCC 1461 “Since Christ entrusted to his apostles the ministry of reconciliation, bishops who are their successors, and priests, the bishops' collaborators, continue to…”
- CCC 1999 “The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that God makes to us of his own life, infused by the Holy Spirit…”
- CCC 2844 “Christian prayer extends to the forgiveness of enemies, transfiguring the disciple by configuring him to his Master. Forgiveness is a high-point of…”
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- CCC 859 “Jesus unites them to the mission he received from the Father. As "the Son can do nothing of his own accord," but…”
- CCC 1424 “It is called the sacrament of confession, since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of…”
- CCC 2844 “Christian prayer extends to the forgiveness of enemies, transfiguring the disciple by configuring him to his Master. Forgiveness is a high-point of…”
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- CCC 602 “Consequently, St. Peter can formulate the apostolic faith in the divine plan of salvation in this way: "You were ransomed from the…”
- CCC 827 “Christ, 'holy, innocent, and undefiled,' knew nothing of sin, but came only to expiate the sins of the people. the Church, however,…”
- CCC 2844 “Christian prayer extends to the forgiveness of enemies, transfiguring the disciple by configuring him to his Master. Forgiveness is a high-point of…”
A modern English Catholic translation will be added once its publisher grants permission.