So what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?

There are all kinds of advantages! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the utterances of God.

For what? if some have not believed, shall their unbelief make the faith of God of none effect?

Let us not do evil so that good may come (a statement which we are falsely said by some to have made), because such behaviour will have its right punishment.

What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;

They have all turned aside, they are together become unprofitable; There is none that doeth good, no, not, so much as one:

Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:

And the way of peace have they not known:

And we have known that as many things as the law saith, to those in the law it doth speak, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may come under judgment to God;

Because by the works of the law no man is able to have righteousness in his eyes, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

But now we have a righteousness of God disclosed apart from law altogether; it is attested by the Law and the prophets,

That is, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, to all those who have faith; and one man is not different from another,

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

And they may have righteousness put to their credit, freely, by his grace, through the salvation which is in Christ Jesus:

For God showed him publicly dying as a sacrifice of reconciliation to be taken advantage of through faith. This was to vindicate his own justice (for in his forbearance, God passed over men's former sins)??26 to vindicate his justice at the present time, and show that he is upright himself, and that he makes those who have faith in Jesus upright also.

[In doing this] God [also] demonstrated His justice [to people] of this present time, that He Himself is just and the One who makes the people right with Him who have faith in Jesus.

If God is one; and he will give righteousness because of faith to those who have circumcision, and through faith to those who have not circumcision.

What, then, shall we say Abraham our father, to have found, according to flesh?

For if Abraham was justified by actions, he would have had something to boast about though not before God.

Blessed they whose lawlessnesses have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered:

Is this blessing, then, for the circumcision only, or in the same way for those who have not circumcision? for we say that the faith of Abraham was put to his account as righteousness.

How, then, was it judged? when he had circumcision, or when he had it not? Not when he had it, but when he did not have it:

He received the sign of circumcision, a seal or confirmation of the righteousness which he had by faith while [he was still] uncircumcised—this was so that he would be the [spiritual] father of all who believe without being circumcised—so that righteousness would be credited to them,

for if they only who are of the law have right of possession, faith is made useless, and the promise becomes of no effect.

because the effect of the law is punishment: for if there had been no law, there could have been no transgression.

For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants -- not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all

(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

Hoping in spite of hopeless circumstances, he believed that he would become "the father of many nations," just as he had been told: "This is how many descendants you will have."

And not being feeble in faith though his body seemed to him little better than dead (he being about a hundred years old) and Sarah was no longer able to have children:

And these words counted to him have not been written for him alone

But for us in addition, to whose account it will be put, if we have faith in him who made Jesus our Lord come back again from the dead,

Who was put to death for our evil-doing, and came to life again so that we might have righteousness.

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

And not only so, but let us have joy in our troubles: in the knowledge that trouble gives us the power of waiting;

Why, it is scarcely conceivable that any one would die for a simply just man, although for a good and lovable man perhaps some one, here and there, will have the courage even to lay down his life.

Therefore, by much more, [because we] have been declared righteous now by his blood, we will be saved through him from the wrath.

For if, being enemies, we have been reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much rather, having been reconciled, we shall be saved in the power of his life.

And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Yet Death reigned as king from Adam to Moses even over those who had not sinned, as Adam did, against Law. And in Adam we have a type of Him whose coming was still future.

But shall not the act of favour be as the offence? For if by the offence of one the many have died, much rather has the grace of God, and the free gift in grace, which is by the one man Jesus Christ, abounded unto the many.

As then through one trespass all men have come under condemnation, so through one act of righteousness all obtain the gift of righteousness unto life.

For as indeed by the disobedience of the one man the many have been constituted sinners, so also by the obedience of the one the many will be constituted righteous.

That, as sin had power in death, so grace might have power through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

What shall we say, then? Should we continue sinning so that more of God's unearned favor will [have to] be shown?

Far be the thought. We who have died to sin, how shall we still live in it?

Are you ignorant that we, as many as have been baptised unto Christ Jesus, have been baptised unto his death?

We have been buried therefore with him by baptism unto death, in order that, even as Christ has been raised up from among the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life.

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him,

We know that Christ was raised from the dead, never to die again, because death does not have control over Him any longer.

Do not go on offering members of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness. But offer yourselves to God [in a decisive act] as those alive [raised] from the dead [to a new life], and your members [all of your abilities—sanctified, set apart] as instruments of righteousness [yielded] to God.

For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

have ye not known that to whom ye present yourselves servants for obedience, servants ye are to him to whom ye obey, whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?

But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

Now, having got your freedom from sin, ye have become bondmen to righteousness.

I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

Therefore what sort of fruit did you have then, about which you are now ashamed? For the end of those [things] [is] death.

But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

Or do you not know, brothers and sisters (for I am speaking to those who know the Law), that the Law has jurisdiction [to rule] over a person as long as he lives?

For, the married woman, unto her living husband is bound by law; but, if her husband have died, she hath received a full release from the law of her husband.

Hence then, her husband being alive, an adulteress, shall she be called - if she become another man's, but, if the husband have died, she is free from the law; so that she is not an adulteress, though she become another man's.

So that, my brethren, ye also have been made dead to the law by the body of the Christ, to be to another, who has been raised up from among the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.

But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that wherein we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.

What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, if it had not been for the Law, I would not have recognized sin. For I would not have known [for example] about coveting [what belongs to another, and would have had no sense of guilt] if the Law had not [repeatedly] said, “You shall not covet.”

The very Commandment that should have meant Life I found to result in Death!

for we have known that the law is spiritual, and I am fleshly, sold by the sin;

And I have no clear knowledge of what I am doing, for that which I have a mind to do, I do not, but what I have hate for, that I do.

But, if I do that which I have no mind to do, I am in agreement with the law that the law is good.

for I have known that there doth not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh, good: for to will is present with me, and to work that which is right I do not find,

For the good which I have a mind to do, I do not: but the evil which I have no mind to do, that I do.

But if I do what I have no mind to do, it is no longer I who do it, but the sin living in me.

So I see a law that, though I have a mind to do good, evil is present in me.

I have, in fact, a sympathetic pleasure in the law of God; according to the inner man.

For, they who according to flesh have their being, the things of the flesh do prefer, but, they according to the spirit, the things of the spirit;

They, moreover, who in flesh have their being, cannot please, God.

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

But if Christ is in your hearts, though your bodies are dead in consequence of sin, your spirits have life in consequence of uprightness.

For if you go in the way of the flesh, death will come on you; but if by the Spirit you put to death the works of the body, you will have life.

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

And if we are children, we have a right to a part in the heritage; a part in the things of God, together with Christ; so that if we have a part in his pain, we will in the same way have a part in his glory.

Present suffering, I hold, is a mere nothing compared to the glory that we are to have revealed.

That all living things will be made free from the power of death and will have a part with the free children of God in glory.

for we have known that all the creation doth groan together, and doth travail in pain together till now.

And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

For we have been saved in hope; but hope seen is not hope; for what any one sees, why does he also hope?

But if we have hope for that which we see not, then we will be able to go on waiting for it.

And, in like manner also, the Spirit doth help our weaknesses; for, what we may pray for, as it behoveth us, we have not known, but the Spirit himself doth make intercession for us with groanings unutterable,

And we have known that to those loving God all things do work together for good, to those who are called according to purpose;

According as it is written, For thy sake we are put to death all the day long; we have been reckoned as sheep for slaughter.

No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us!

For I have full assurance that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor the present nor the future

height or depth, or any other created thing
will have the power to separate us
from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!

I am speaking a truth in Christ?? am not lying, my conscience testifying with me in the Holy Spirit??2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart

That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.

for I have wished, I myself, to be a curse from the Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to flesh;

To them belongs recognition as God's sons, and they have His glorious Presence and the Covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the Temple service, and the ancient Promises.

Not however that God's word has failed; for all who have sprung from Israel do not count as Israel,

Neither are all [Jewish] people children [of God], [simply] because they are Abraham's descendants. But [Gen. 21:12 says], "It is through Isaac that you [i.e., Abraham] will have descendants."