⁹Love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; be attached to what is good, ¹⁰being devoted to one another in brotherly love, esteeming one another more highly in honor, ¹¹not lagging in diligence, being enthusiastic in spirit, serving the Lord, ¹²rejoicing in hope, enduring in affliction, being devoted to prayer, ¹³contributing to the needs of the saints, pursuing hospitality.

¹⁴Bless those who persecute,^c bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. ¹⁶Think the same thing toward one another; do not think arrogantly^d, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own sight^e. ¹⁷Pay back no one evil for evil. Take thought for what is good in the sight of all people. ¹⁸If it is possible on your part, be at peace with all people. ¹⁹Do not take revenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to God’s wrath, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,”^f says the Lord. ²⁰But “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by^* doing this, you will heap up coals of fire upon his head.”^g ²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Obedience to the Governing Authorities

13Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except by God, and those that exist are put in place by God. ²So then, the one who resists authority resists the ordinance which is from God, and those who resist will receive condemnation on themselves. ³For rulers are not a cause of terror for a good deed, but for bad conduct. So do you want not to be afraid of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from it, ⁴for it is God’s servant to you for what is good. But if you do what is bad, be afraid, because it does not bear the sword to no purpose. For it is God’s servant, the one who avenges for punishment on the one who does what is bad. ⁵Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. ⁶For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities^a are servants of God, busily engaged in this very thing. ⁷Pay to everyone what is owed: pay taxes to whom taxes are due; pay customs duties to whom customs duties are due; pay respect to whom respect is due; pay honor to whom honor is due.^b

Love Fulfills the Law

⁸Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another, for the one who loves someone else has fulfilled the law.

Read in Logos

Romans 12:12: Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Footnotes

cSome manuscripts have “who persecute you”
dLiterally “think not the arrogant”
eLiterally “in the sight of yourselves”
fA quotation from Deut 32:35
*Here “by” is supplied as a component of the participle (“doing”) which is understood as means
gA quotation from Prov 25:21–22
aLiterally “they”
bDue to the very compressed style in this verse, many words must be supplied to make sense in English