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- Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God;
- if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law;
- if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark,
- an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth--
- you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?
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- But if you bear the name "Jew" and rely upon the Law and boast in God,
- and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law,
- and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,
- a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth,
- you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal?
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- You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
- You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?
- As it is written: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."
- Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised.
- If those who are not circumcised keep the law's requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised?
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- You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
- You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?
- For "THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU," just as it is written.
- For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
- So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?
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- The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.
- A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.
- No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.
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- And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law?
- For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.
- But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.
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