Romans 2:13–25

¹³For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in God’s sight but the doers of the law who will be justified.^{* 14}When gentiles, who do not possess the law, by nature do^h what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves. ¹⁵They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, as their own conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts will accuse or perhaps excuse them ¹⁶on the day when, according to my gospel, God through Christ Jesus judges the secret thoughts of all.^*

The Jews and the Law

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

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