So 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.
Parallel translations
- WEB while we don’t look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
- KJV While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
- NKJV while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
- NASB while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
- NLT So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
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
Faith looks beyond the visible and temporary to the unseen and eternal. What can be seen passes away; what is unseen lasts forever.
Overview
Paul explains how he keeps an eternal perspective: he fixes his attention on unseen, eternal realities rather than the visible, passing world. This is not escapism but faith that values God's promises over present circumstances. It sets up the discussion of the eternal heavenly dwelling in chapter 5.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 2 Cor 5:7For we walk by faith, not by sight.
- Rom 8:24–25For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see?
- Heb 11:1Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.
- 1 Jn 2:16–17For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
- 1 Jn 2:25And this is the promise that He Himself made to us: eternal life.
- Heb 11:13All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
- Heb 12:2–3Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
- Heb 11:25–27He chose to suffer oppression with God’s people rather than to experience the fleeting enjoyment of sin.
- Matt 25:46And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
- 2 Th 2:16Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who by grace has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope,
- Lev 16:25–26He is also to burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 4:18 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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