Romans 13
13
Obey Rulers
1 #
Ws 6.3. Obey the rulers who have authority over you. Only God can give authority to anyone, and he puts these rulers in their places of power. 2People who oppose the authorities are opposing what God has done, and they will be punished. 3Rulers are a threat to evil people, not to good people. There is no need to be afraid of the authorities. Just do right, and they will praise you for it. 4After all, they are God's servants, and it is their duty to help you.
If you do something wrong, you ought to be afraid, because these rulers have the right to punish you. They are God's servants who punish criminals to show how angry God is. 5But you should obey the rulers because you know it is the right thing to do, and not just because of God's anger.
6 #
Mt 22.21; Mk 12.17; Lk 20.25. You must also pay your taxes. The authorities are God's servants, and it is their duty to take care of these matters. 7Pay all that you owe, whether it is taxes and fees or respect and honor.
Love
8Let love be your only debt! If you love others, you have done all that the Law demands. 9#Ex 20.14; Dt 5.18; Ex 20.13; Dt 5.17; Ex 20.15; Dt 5.19; Ex 20.17; Dt 5.21; Lv 19.18. In the Law there are many commands, such as, “Be faithful in marriage. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not want what belongs to others.” But all of these are summed up in the command that says, “Love others as much as you love yourself.” 10No one who loves others will harm them. So love is all that the Law demands.
The Day When Christ Returns
11You know what sort of times we live in, and so you should live properly. It is time to wake up. You know that the day when we will be saved is nearer now than when we first put our faith in the Lord. 12Night is almost over, and day will soon appear. We must stop behaving as people do in the dark and be ready to live in the light. 13So behave properly, as people do in the day. Don't go to wild parties or get drunk or be vulgar or indecent. Don't quarrel or be jealous. 14Let the Lord Jesus Christ be as near to you as the clothes you wear. Then you won't try to satisfy your selfish desires.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Romans 13
13
Submission to the Authorities
1Let every person #Titus 3:1; 1 Pet. 2:13 be subject to the governing authorities. For #[John 19:11]; See Dan. 2:21there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you #1 Pet. 2:14will receive his approval, 4for #2 Chr. 19:6 he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, #1 Thess. 4:6an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also #1 Pet. 2:19; [Eccles. 8:2]for the sake of conscience. 6For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7#Matt. 17:25; 22:21; Mark 12:17Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
Fulfilling the Law Through Love
8 # [Lev. 19:13; Prov. 3:27, 28] Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for #ver. 10; [Matt. 22:40; Col. 3:14]; See John 13:34the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9For the commandments, #Matt. 19:18; Cited from Ex. 20:13-17; Deut. 5:17-21 “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: #Cited from Lev. 19:18“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore #[John 14:15]; See ver. 8love is the fulfilling of the law.
11Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you #1 Cor. 15:34; Eph. 5:14; 1 Thess. 5:6 to wake from sleep. #[Isa. 56:1; Luke 21:28]For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12#[John 9:4] The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us #Col. 3:8 cast off #Eph. 5:11; [John 3:20] the works of darkness and #2 Cor. 6:7; Eph. 6:11, 13; 1 Thess. 5:8put on the armor of light. 13#1 Thess. 4:12 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, #Luke 21:34; Gal. 5:21; 1 Pet. 4:3 not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, #James 3:14, 16not in quarreling and jealousy. 14But #Gal. 3:27; [Job 29:14; Ps. 132:9; Luke 24:49; Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10] put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, #Gal. 5:16; 1 Pet. 2:11to gratify its desires.
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