⁶ The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants,^(A) so that you may love^(B) him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.

²⁸ A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly,^(A) nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.^(B)

²⁹ No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart,^(A) by the Spirit,^(B) not by the written code.^(C) Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.^(D)

God’s Sovereign Choice

⁶ It is not as though God’s word^(A) had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.^(B)

¹⁵ Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything;^(A) what counts is the new creation.^(B)