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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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 5:7(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
- Rom 8:24–25For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
- Heb 11:1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
- 1 Jn 2:16–17For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
- 1 Jn 2:25And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
- Heb 11:13These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
- Heb 12:2–3Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
- Heb 11:25–27Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
- Matt 25:46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
- 2 Th 2:16Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,
- Lev 16:25–26And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.