Circumcision of the Heart

25 Circumcision benefits you if you observe the law, but if you are a lawbreaker, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.(A) 26 So if an uncircumcised(B) man keeps the law’s requirements,(C) will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27 A man who is physically uncircumcised, but who keeps the law, will judge you(D) who are a lawbreaker in spite of having the letter of the law and circumcision. 28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly,(E) and true circumcision is not something visible in the flesh. 29 On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly,(F) and circumcision is of the heart—by the Spirit, not the letter.[a](G) That person’s praise is not from people but from God.(H)

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Footnotes

  1. 2:29 Or heart—spiritually, not literally

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.(A) 26 So, if the uncircumcised keep the requirements of the law, will not their uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then the physically uncircumcised person who keeps the law will judge you who, though having the written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law. 28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something external and physical.(B) 29 Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not the written code. Such a person receives praise not from humans but from God.(C)

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