17Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God;
18if you know His will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law;
19if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those in darkness,
20an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—
21you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?
22You who forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
23You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?
24As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
25Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
26If a man who is not circumcised keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?
27The one who is physically uncircumcised yet keeps the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.
28A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical.
29No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.