¹³ Not even those who are circumcised keep the law,^(A) yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh.^(B)

³ For it is we who are the circumcision,^(A) we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus,^(B) and who put no confidence in the flesh—

⁶ Your boasting is not good.^(A) Don’t you know that a little yeast^(B) leavens the whole batch of dough?^(C)

¹⁹ They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”^(A)

The Jews and the Law

¹⁷ Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God;^{(A) 18} if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; ¹⁹ if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, ²⁰ an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— ²¹ you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?^{(B) 22} You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?^{(C) 23} You who boast in the law,^(D) do you dishonor God by breaking the law? ²⁴ As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”^[a](E)

²⁵ Circumcision has value if you observe the law,^(F) but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised.^(G)

¹⁸ Since many are boasting in the way the world does,^(A) I too will boast.^(B)

¹⁵ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert,^(A) and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell^(B) as you are.

³ So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

²¹ So then, no more boasting about human leaders!^(A) All things are yours,^(B)