Romans 12–13

Life in God’s Service

12So then, my brothers and sisters, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you: offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer. ²Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.

³And because of God’s gracious gift to me I say to every one of you: do not think of yourself more highly than you should. Instead, be modest in your thinking, and judge yourself according to the amount of faith that God has given you. ^4*We have many parts in the one body, and all these parts have different functions. ^5*In the same way, though we are many, we are one body in union with Christ, and we are all joined to each other as different parts of one body. ^6*So we are to use our different gifts in accordance with the grace that God has given us. If our gift is to speak God’s message, we should do it according to the faith that we have; ^7*if it is to serve, we should serve; if it is to teach, we should teach; ^8*if it is to encourage others, we should do so. Whoever shares with others should do it generously; whoever has authority should work hard; whoever shows kindness to others should do it cheerfully.

⁹Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good. ¹⁰Love one another warmly as Christian brothers and sisters, and be eager to show respect for one another. ¹¹Work hard and do not be lazy. Serve the Lord with a heart full of devotion. ¹²Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times. ¹³Share your belongings with your needy fellow-Christians, and open your homes to strangers.

^14*Ask God to bless those who persecute you—yes, ask him to bless, not to curse. ¹⁵Be happy with those who are happy, weep with those who weep. ^16*Have the same concern for everyone. Do not be proud, but accept humble duties.^r Do not think of yourselves as wise.

¹⁷If someone has done you wrong, do not repay him with a wrong. Try to do what everyone considers to be good. ¹⁸Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody. ^19*Never take revenge, my friends, but instead let God’s anger do it. For the scripture says, “I will take revenge, I will pay back, says the Lord.” ^20*Instead, as the scripture says: “If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them a drink; for by doing this you will make them burn with shame.” ²¹Do not let evil defeat you; instead, conquer evil with good.

Duties towards the State Authorities

13Everyone must obey the state authorities, because no authority exists without God’s permission, and the existing authorities have been put there by God. ²Whoever opposes the existing authority opposes what God has ordered; and anyone who does so will bring judgement on himself. ³For rulers are not to be feared by those who do good, but by those who do evil. Would you like to be unafraid of those in authority? Then do what is good, and they will praise you, ⁴because they are God’s servants working for your own good. But if you do evil, then be afraid of them, because their power to punish is real. They are God’s servants and carry out God’s punishment on those who do evil. ⁵For this reason you must obey the authorities—not just because of God’s punishment, but also as a matter of conscience.

^6*That is also why you pay taxes, because the authorities are working for God when they fulfil their duties. ^7*Pay, then, what you owe them; pay them your personal and property taxes, and show respect and honour for them all.

Duties towards One Another

⁸Be under obligation to no one—the only obligation you have is to love one another. Whoever does this has obeyed the Law. ^9*The commandments, “Do not commit adultery; do not commit murder; do not steal; do not desire what belongs to someone else”—all these, and any others besides, are summed up in the one command, “Love your neighbour as you love yourself.” ¹⁰If you love someone, you will never do them wrong; to love, then, is to obey the whole Law.

¹¹You must do this, because you know that the time has come for you to wake up from your sleep. For the moment when we will be saved is closer now than it was when we first believed. ¹²The night is nearly over, day is almost here. Let us stop doing the things that belong to the dark, and let us take up weapons for fighting in the light. ¹³Let us conduct ourselves properly, as people who live in the light of day—no orgies or drunkenness, no immorality or indecency, no fighting or jealousy. ¹⁴But take up the weapons of the Lord Jesus Christ, and stop paying attention to your sinful nature and satisfying its desires.