³⁰ The father^[a] went to the second and said the same, and he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go.

¹⁶ They profess to know God, but they deny him by their actions; they are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.^(A)

³¹ They come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but they will not obey them. For flattery is on their lips, but their heart is set on their gain.^[a](A)

³ therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it, but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.

The Jews and the Law

¹⁷ But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast of your relation to God^{(A) 18} and know his will and determine what really matters because you are instructed in the law, ¹⁹ and if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, ²⁰ a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth,^{(B) 21} you, then, who teach others, will you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?^{(C) 22} You who forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? ²³ You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by your transgression of the law? ²⁴ For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed^[a] among the gentiles because of you.”^(D)

²⁵ Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you are a transgressor of the law your circumcision has become uncircumcision.^(E)