Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) ¹  and circumcised them ²  on that very same day, just as God had told him to do.

“When a foreigner lives ¹  with you and wants to observe the Passover to the Lord, all his males must be circumcised, ²  and then he may approach and observe it, and he will be like one who is born in the land ³  – but no uncircumcised person may eat of it.

Therefore if the uncircumcised man obeys ¹  the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?

For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised ¹  on behalf of God’s truth to confirm the promises made to the fathers, ² 

And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised, ¹  so that he would become ²  the father of all those who believe but have never been circumcised, ³  that they too could have righteousness credited to them.

This is why Joshua had to circumcise them: All the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt died on the journey through the desert after they left Egypt. ¹ 

You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder ¹  of the covenant between me and you.

And will not the physically uncircumcised man ¹  who keeps the law judge you who, despite ²  the written code ³  and circumcision, transgress the law?

They said to them, “We cannot give ¹  our sister to a man who is not circumcised, for it would be a disgrace ²  to us.

At ¹  the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given by the angel ²  before he was conceived in the womb.

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision carries any weight – the only thing that matters is faith working through love. ¹ 

and when James, Cephas, ¹  and John, who had a reputation as ²  pillars, ³  recognized ⁴  the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me ⁵  the right hand of fellowship, agreeing ⁶  that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ⁷ 

But some from the religious party of the Pharisees ¹  who had believed stood up and said, “It is necessary ²  to circumcise the Gentiles ³  and to order them to observe ⁴  the law of Moses.”

For circumcision ¹  has its value if you practice the law, but ²  if you break the law, ³  your circumcision has become uncircumcision.

But if a male child ¹  is circumcised ²  on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses is not broken, ³  why are you angry with me because I made a man completely well ⁴  on the Sabbath?

Since we have heard that some have gone out from among us with no orders from us and have confused ¹  you, upsetting ²  your minds ³  by what they said, ⁴ 

Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Instead, keeping God’s commandments is what counts.

For ¹  neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for ²  anything; the only thing that matters is a new creation! ³ 

Beware of the dogs, ¹  beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh! ² 

At that time the Lord told Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites once again.” ¹