Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

17 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, ^(A)the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,

³ Abram ^(F)fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,

⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and ^(J)kings will come from you. ⁷ I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your ^[f]descendants after you throughout their generations as an ^(K)everlasting covenant, ^(L)to be God to you and ^(M)to your ^[g]descendants after you. ⁸ And ^(N)I will give to you and to your ^[h]descendants after you the land where you live as a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and ^(O)I will be their God.”

⁹ God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, ^(P)you shall keep My covenant, you and your ^[i]descendants after you throughout their generations. ^10 (Q)This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your ^[j]descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ And ^(R)you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. ¹² And every male among you who is ^(S)eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, including a slave who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your ^[k]descendants. ¹³ A slave who is born in your house or ^(T)who is bought with your money shall certainly be circumcised; so My covenant shall be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant.

The Jews under the Law

¹⁷ But if you call yourself a ^[a]Jew and ^(A)rely ^[b]upon the Law and boast in God, ¹⁸ and know His will and ^[c](B)distinguish the things that matter, being instructed from the Law, ¹⁹ and are confident that you yourself are a guide to people who are blind, a light to those in darkness, ²⁰ a ^[d]corrector of the foolish, a teacher of ^[e]the immature, possessing in the Law ^(C)the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth— ²¹ you, therefore, ^(D)who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who ^[f]preach that one is not to steal, do you steal? ²² You who say that one is not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who loathe idols, do you ^(E)rob temples? ²³ You who ^(F)boast ^[g]in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? ²⁴ For “^(G)the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles ^(H)because of you,” just as it is written.

²⁵ For indeed circumcision is of value if you ^(I)practice ^[h]the Law; but if you are a violator ^[i]of the Law, ^(J)your circumcision has turned into uncircumcision. ^26 (K)So if ^(L)the ^[j]uncircumcised man ^(M)keeps the requirements of the Law, will his uncircumcision not be regarded as circumcision? ²⁷ And ^(N)he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not ^(O)judge you who ^[k]though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a violator ^[l]of the Law? ²⁸ For ^(P)he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. ²⁹ But ^(Q)he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and ^(R)circumcision is of the heart, by the ^(S)Spirit, not by the letter; ^(T)and his praise is not from people, but from God.