Josiah Dies in Battle^(A)

^20 (B)After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against ^(C)Carchemish by the Euphrates; and Josiah went out against him. ²¹ But he sent messengers to him, saying, “What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against the house with which I have war; for God commanded me to make haste. Refrain from meddling with God, who is with me, lest He destroy you.” ²² Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but ^(D)disguised himself so that he might fight with him, and did not heed the words of Necho from the mouth of God. So he came to fight in the Valley of Megiddo.

²³ And the archers shot King Josiah; and the king said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am severely wounded.” ^24 (E)His servants therefore took him out of that chariot and put him in the second chariot that he had, and they brought him to Jerusalem. So he died, and was buried in one of the tombs of his fathers. And ^(F)all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

²⁵ Jeremiah also ^(G)lamented for ^(H)Josiah. And to this day ^(I)all the singing men and the singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations. ^(J)They made it a custom in Israel; and indeed they are written in the Laments.

²⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his goodness, according to what was written in the Law of the Lord, ²⁷ and his deeds from first to last, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

The Jews Guilty as the Gentiles

^17 [a]Indeed ^(A)you are called a Jew, and ^(B)rest^[b] on the law, ^(C)and make your boast in God, ¹⁸ and ^(D)know His will, and ^(E)approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, ¹⁹ and ^(F)are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, ²⁰ an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, ^(G)having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. ^21 (H)You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? ²² You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, ^(I)do you rob temples? ²³ You who ^(J)make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? ²⁴ For ^(K)“the name of God is ^(L)blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.

Circumcision of No Avail

^25 (M)For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. ²⁶ Therefore, ^(N)if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? ²⁷ And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, ^(O)judge you who, even with your ^[c]written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? ²⁸ For ^(P)he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; ²⁹ but he is a Jew ^(Q)who is one inwardly; and ^(R)circumcision is that of the heart, ^(S)in the Spirit, not in the letter; ^(T)whose ^[d]praise is not from men but from God.

God’s Judgment Defended

3 What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? ² Much in every way! Chiefly because ^(A)to them were committed the ^[a]oracles of God. ³ For what if ^(B)some did not believe? ^(C)Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? ^4 (D)Certainly not! Indeed, let ^(E)God be ^[b]true but ^(F)every man a liar. As it is written:

⁵ But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? ^(H)(I speak as a man.) ⁶ Certainly not! For then ^(I)how will God judge the world?

⁷ For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? ⁸ And why not say, ^(J)“Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their ^[c]condemnation is just.