²¹ and they have been told about you that you teach all ^(A)the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, ^(B)telling them ^(C)not to circumcise their children or ^(D)walk according to ^(E)our customs.

^12 (A)It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh ^(B)who would force you to be circumcised, and only ^(C)in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. ¹³ For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. ¹⁴ But far be it from me to boast ^(D)except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which^[a] the world ^(E)has been crucified to me, and I to the world. ¹⁵ For ^(F)neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but ^(G)a new creation.

¹⁹ For ^(A)though I am free from all, ^(B)I have made myself a servant to all, that I might ^(C)win more of them. ^20 (D)To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. ²¹ To ^(E)those outside the law I became ^(F)as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but ^(G)under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.

²⁸ crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who ^(A)is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and ^(B)the law and ^(C)this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and ^(D)has defiled ^(E)this holy place.”

Christ Has Set Us Free

5 For ^(A)freedom Christ has ^(B)set us free; ^(C)stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to ^(D)a yoke of ^(E)slavery.

² Look: I, Paul, say to you that ^(F)if you accept circumcision, ^(G)Christ will be of no advantage to you. ³ I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that ^(H)he is obligated to keep the whole law. ⁴ You are ^(I)severed from Christ, ^(J)you who would be justified^[a] by the law; ^(K)you have fallen away from grace. ⁵ For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly ^(L)wait for the hope of righteousness. ⁶ For in Christ Jesus ^(M)neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but ^(N)only faith working through love.

¹⁸ Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? ^(A)Let him not seek circumcision. ^19 (B)For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but ^(C)keeping the commandments of God.

Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another

14 As for ^(A)the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. ^2 (B)One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. ³ Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and ^(C)let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. ^4 (D)Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master^[a] that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

^5 (E)One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. ^(F)Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since ^(G)he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.

Paul in Rome

¹⁷ After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them, “Brothers, ^(A)though I had done nothing against our people or ^(B)the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.

³ Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he ^(A)took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.