Do the Jews then have any advantage over the Gentiles? Or is there any value in being circumcised?

Much, indeed, in every way! In the first place, God trusted his message to the Jews.

Shall we say, then, that the Law itself is sinful? Of course not! But it was the Law that made me know what sin is. If the Law had not said, "Do not desire what belongs to someone else," I would not have known such a desire.

I myself was once alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life,

Sin found its chance, and by means of the commandment it deceived me and killed me.

But does this mean that what is good caused my death? By no means! It was sin that did it; by using what is good, sin brought death to me, in order that its true nature as sin might be revealed. And so, by means of the commandment sin is shown to be even more terribly sinful.

Does this mean that the Law is against God's promises? No, not at all! For if human beings had received a law that could bring life, then everyone could be put right with God by obeying it.

But before the time for faith came, the Law kept us all locked up as prisoners until this coming faith should be revealed.

No other nation, no matter how great, has laws so just as those that I have taught you today.

Be on your guard! Make certain that you do not forget, as long as you live, what you have seen with your own eyes. Tell your children and your grandchildren

He gives his message to his people, his instructions and laws to Israel.

He has not done this for other nations; they do not know his laws. Praise the LORD!

But Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone were to rise from death.' "

Do not think, however, that I am the one who will accuse you to my Father. Moses, in whom you have put your hope, is the very one who will accuse you.

But since you do not believe what he wrote, how can you believe what I say?"

They would not have been guilty of sin if I had not come and spoken to them; as it is, they no longer have any excuse for their sin.

For it is not by hearing the Law that people are put right with God, but by doing what the Law commands.

Now we know that everything in the Law applies to those who live under the Law, in order to stop all human excuses and bring the whole world under God's judgment.

For no one is put right in God's sight by doing what the Law requires; what the Law does is to make us know that we have sinned.

The Law brings down God's anger; but where there is no law, there is no disobeying of the law.

Law was introduced in order to increase wrongdoing; but where sin increased, God's grace increased much more.

So then, just as sin ruled by means of death, so also God's grace rules by means of righteousness, leading us to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Shall we say, then, that the Law itself is sinful? Of course not! But it was the Law that made me know what sin is. If the Law had not said, "Do not desire what belongs to someone else," I would not have known such a desire.

I myself was once alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life,

Sin found its chance, and by means of the commandment it deceived me and killed me.

But does this mean that what is good caused my death? By no means! It was sin that did it; by using what is good, sin brought death to me, in order that its true nature as sin might be revealed. And so, by means of the commandment sin is shown to be even more terribly sinful.

We know that the Law is good if it is used as it should be used.

It must be remembered, of course, that laws are made, not for good people, but for lawbreakers and criminals, for the godless and sinful, for those who are not religious or spiritual, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers,

Now, God made his promises to Abraham and to his descendant. The scripture does not use the plural "descendants," meaning many people, but the singular "descendant," meaning one person only, namely, Christ.

Now that the time for faith is here, the Law is no longer in charge of us.

But now to continue---the son who will receive his father's property is treated just like a slave while he is young, even though he really owns everything.

In the same way, we too were slaves of the ruling spirits of the universe before we reached spiritual maturity.

The LORD came from Mount Sinai; he rose like the sun over Edom and shone on his people from Mount Paran. Ten thousand angels were with him, a flaming fire at his right hand.

You are the ones who received God's law, that was handed down by angels---yet you have not obeyed it!"

The message given to our ancestors by the angels was shown to be true, and those who did not follow it or obey it received the punishment they deserved.

God has not placed the angels as rulers over the new world to come---the world of which we speak.

They said to Moses, "If you speak to us, we will listen; but we are afraid that if God speaks to us, we will die."

But the people continued to stand a long way off, and only Moses went near the dark cloud where God was.

The LORD said to Moses, "Come up the mountain to me, you and Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the leaders of Israel; and while you are still some distance away, bow down in worship.

Moses went and told the people all the LORD's commands and all the ordinances, and all the people answered together, "We will do everything that the LORD has said."

Then he sent young men, and they burned sacrifices to the LORD and sacrificed some cattle as fellowship offerings.

Then he took the book of the covenant, in which the LORD's commands were written, and read it aloud to the people. They said, "We will obey the LORD and do everything that he has commanded."

Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the leaders of Israel went up the mountain

God did not harm these leading men of Israel; they saw God, and then they ate and drank together.

The LORD said to Moses, "Write these words down, because it is on the basis of these words that I am making a covenant with you and with Israel."

When Moses went down from Mount Sinai carrying the Ten Commandments, his face was shining because he had been speaking with the LORD; but he did not know it.

But Moses called them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the community went to him, and Moses spoke with them.

When Moses had finished speaking with them, he covered his face with a veil.

and they would see that his face was shining. Then he would put the veil back on until the next time he went to speak with the LORD.

These are the regulations about a man who has a discharge or an emission of semen,

I stood between you and the LORD at that time to tell you what he said, because you were afraid of the fire and would not go up the mountain. "The LORD said,

"These are the commandments the LORD gave to all of you when you were gathered at the mountain. When he spoke with a mighty voice from the fire and from the thick clouds, he gave these commandments and no others. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

and said, 'The LORD our God showed us his greatness and his glory when we heard him speak from the fire! Today we have seen that it is possible for people to continue to live, even though God has spoken to them.

Has any human being ever lived after hearing the living God speak from a fire?

"When the LORD heard this, he said to me, 'I have heard what these people said, and they are right.

Go and tell them to return to their tents.

"People of Israel, be sure that you do everything that the LORD your God has commanded you. Do not disobey any of his laws.

"The LORD also said to me, 'I know how stubborn these people are.

"So I turned and went down the mountain, carrying the two stone tablets on which the covenant was written. Flames of fire were coming from the mountain.

So there in front of you I threw the stone tablets down and broke them to pieces.

I was afraid of the LORD's fierce anger, because he was furious enough to destroy you; but once again the LORD listened to me.

"So I lay face downward in the LORD's presence those forty days and nights, because I knew that he was determined to destroy you.

Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and do not pay any attention to the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of this people.

After all, these are the people whom you chose to be your own and whom you brought out of Egypt by your great power and might.'

Instead, he will send you a prophet like me from among your own people, and you are to obey him.

So the LORD said to me, 'They have made a wise request.

He will speak in my name, and I will punish anyone who refuses to obey him.

When God said that he would destroy his people, his chosen servant, Moses, stood up against God and kept his anger from destroying them.

God gave the Law through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

He is the one who was with the people of Israel assembled in the desert; he was there with our ancestors and with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and he received God's living messages to pass on to us.