But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
Parallel translations
- WEB But whenever one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
- KJV Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
- NKJV Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
- NASB but whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
- NLT But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Conversion to Christ brings spiritual sight.
Overview
Drawing on the language of Moses turning to the Lord, Paul declares that turning to Christ removes the veil of blindness. Understanding and freedom come not by effort but by turning to the Lord in faith. This is the gospel remedy for spiritual blindness, opening the eyes of the heart to behold God's glory in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Exod 34:34But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came out. And when he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded,
- Isa 25:7On this mountain He will swallow up the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations;
- Isa 29:18On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
- John 6:45–46It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me—
- Jer 31:34No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”
- Rom 11:23And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
- Rom 11:25–27I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
- Lam 3:40Let us examine and test our ways, and turn back to the LORD.
- Isa 54:13Then all your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be their prosperity.
- Deut 4:30When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice.
- Deut 30:10if you obey the LORD your God by keeping His commandments and statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
- Hos 3:4–5For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol.
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Christ at the center
In Christ all God's promises are 'Yes and Amen'; though rich, he became poor to make us rich, and in him God reconciles the world, making us new creations.
How 2 Corinthians 3:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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