Bible reading

A reading from 2 Corinthians chapter 5

Jesus Christ died for all people, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but only for him who died and was raised to life for their sake.

¹⁶ No longer, then, do we judge anyone by human standards. Even if at one time we judged Christ according to human standards, we no longer do so. ¹⁷ Anyone who in Christ is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come. ¹⁸ All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also. ¹⁹ Our message is that God was making all human beings his friends through Christ. God did not keep an account of their sins, and he has given us the message which tells how he makes them his friends.

²⁰ Here we are, then, speaking for Christ, as though God himself were making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf: let God change you from enemies into his friends! ²¹ Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made him share our sin in order that in union with him we might share the righteousness of God.

This is the word of the Lord

Thanks be to God