2 ¹⁷ But as for you—you may bear the name of Jew; you rely upon the law and are proud of your God; 2 ¹⁸ you know his will; instructed by the law, you know right from wrong; 2 ¹⁹ you are confident that you are the one to guide the blind, to enlighten the benighted, 2 ²⁰ to train the stupid, and to teach the immature, because in the law you see the very shape of knowledge and truth. 2 ²¹ You, then, who teach your fellow-man, do you fail to teach yourself? 2 ²² You proclaim, 'Do not steal'; but are you yourself a thief? You say, 'Do not commit adultery'; but are you an adulterer? You abominate false gods; but do you rob their shrines? 2 ²³ While you take pride in the law, you dishonour God by breaking it. 2 ^{24 [ Is.52.5, Eze.36.20. ]} For, as Scripture says, 'Because of you the name of God is dishonoured among the Gentiles.'

2 ²⁵ Circumcision has value, provided you keep the law; but if you break the law, then your circumcision is as if it had never been. 2 ²⁶ Equally, if an uncircumcised man keeps the precepts of the law, will he not count as circumcised? 2 ²⁷ He may be uncircumcised in his natural state, but by fulfilling the law he will pass judgement on you who break it, for all your written code and your circumcision. 2 ²⁸ The true Jew is not he who is such in externals, neither is the true circumcision the external mark in the flesh. 2 ²⁹ The true Jew is he who is such inwardly, and the true circumcision is of the heart, directed not by written precepts but by the Spirit; such a man receives his commendation not from men but from God.

3 ¹ Then what advantage has the Jew? 3 ² What is the value of circumcision? Great, in every way. In the first place, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3 ³ What if some of them were unfaithful? Will their faithlessness cancel the faithfulness of God? 3 ^{4 [ Ps.51.4. ]} Certainly not! God must be true though every man living were a liar; for we read in Scripture, 'When thou speakest thou shalt be vindicated, and win the verdict when thou art on trial.'

3 ⁵ Another question: if our injustice serves to bring out God's justice, what are we to say? Is it unjust of God (I speak of him in human terms) to bring retribution upon us? 3 ⁶ Certainly not! If God were unjust, how could he judge the world?
3 ⁷ Again, if the truth of God brings him all the greater honour because of my falsehood, why should I any longer be condemned as a sinner? 3 ⁸ Why not indeed 'do evil that good may come', as some libellously report me as saying? To condemn such men as these is surely no injustice.