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25 For indeed circumcision is of value if you (A)practice [a]the Law, but if you are a transgressor [b]of the Law, (B)your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 (C)So if (D)the [c]uncircumcised man (E)observes the righteous requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27 And (F)he who is physically uncircumcised, if he [d]fulfills the Law, will he not (G)judge you who, through the letter of the Law and circumcision, are a transgressor [e]of the Law? 28 For (H)he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But (I)he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and (J)circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the (K)Spirit, not by the letter; (L)and his praise is not from men, but from God.

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 2:25 Or law
  2. Romans 2:25 Or of law
  3. Romans 2:26 Lit uncircumcision
  4. Romans 2:27 Or completes, cf. James 2:8
  5. Romans 2:27 Or of law

25 The Jewish ceremony of circumcision has value only if you obey God’s law. But if you don’t obey God’s law, you are no better off than an uncircumcised Gentile. 26 And if the Gentiles obey God’s law, won’t God declare them to be his own people? 27 In fact, uncircumcised Gentiles who keep God’s law will condemn you Jews who are circumcised and possess God’s law but don’t obey it.

28 For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. 29 No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise[a] from God, not from people.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:29 Or receives praise.