Romans 12–14

Chapter 12

Dedicated Service

¹Therefore ^aI urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to ^bpresent your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, ¹acceptable to God, which is your ²spiritual service of worship.

²And do not ^abe conformed to ^bthis ¹world, but be transformed by the ^crenewing of your mind, so that you may ^2dprove what the will of God is, that which is good and ³acceptable and perfect.

³For through ^athe grace given to me I say to everyone among you ^bnot to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to ^ceach a measure of faith.

⁴For ^ajust as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function,

⁵so we, ^awho are many, are ^bone body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

⁶Since we have gifts that ^adiffer according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if ^bprophecy, ¹according to the proportion of his faith;

⁷if ^1aservice, in his serving; or he who ^bteaches, in his teaching;

⁸or he who ^aexhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with ^1bliberality; ^che who ²leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with ^dcheerfulness.

⁹Let ^alove be without hypocrisy. ^bAbhor what is evil; cling to what is good.

¹⁰Be ^adevoted to one another in brotherly love; ¹give preference to one another ^bin honor;

¹¹not lagging behind in diligence, ^afervent in spirit, ^bserving the Lord;

^12arejoicing in hope, ^bpersevering in tribulation, ^cdevoted to prayer,

^13acontributing to the needs of the ¹saints, ^2bpracticing hospitality.

^14aBless those who persecute ¹you; bless and do not curse.

^15aRejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

^16aBe of the same mind toward one another; ^bdo not be haughty in mind, but ¹associate with the lowly. ^cDo not be wise in your own estimation.

^17aNever pay back evil for evil to anyone. ^1bRespect what is right in the sight of all men.

¹⁸If possible, ^aso far as it depends on you, ^bbe at peace with all men.

^19aNever take your own revenge, beloved, but ¹leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “^bVengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

²⁰“^aBut if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”

²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Chapter 13

Be Subject to Government

¹Every ^1aperson is to be in ^bsubjection to the governing authorities. For ^cthere is no authority except ²from God, and those which exist are established by God.

²Therefore ¹whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.

³For ^arulers are not a cause of fear for ¹good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;

⁴for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an ^aavenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.

⁵Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also ^afor conscience’ sake.

⁶For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.

^7aRender to all what is due them: ^btax to whom tax is due; ^ccustom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.

⁸Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for ^ahe who loves ¹his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

⁹For this, “^aYou shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “^bYou shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

¹⁰Love ¹does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore ^alove is the fulfillment of the law.

¹¹Do this, knowing the time, that it is ^aalready the hour for you to ^bawaken from sleep; for now ¹salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.

^12aThe night is almost gone, and ^bthe day is near. Therefore let us lay aside ^cthe deeds of darkness and put on ^dthe armor of light.

¹³Let us ^1abehave properly as in the day, ^bnot in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.

¹⁴But ^aput on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh ^bin regard to its lusts.

Chapter 14

Principles of Conscience

¹Now ^aaccept the one who is ^bweak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.

^2aOne person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is ^bweak eats vegetables only.

³The one who eats is not to ^aregard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to ^bjudge the one who eats, for God has ^caccepted him.

^4aWho are you to judge the ¹servant of another? To his own ²master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

^5aOne person ¹regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be ^bfully convinced in his own mind.

⁶He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, ¹does so for the Lord, for he ^agives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.

⁷For not one of us ^alives for himself, and not one dies for himself;

⁸for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore ^awhether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

⁹For to this end ^aChrist died and lived again, that He might be ^bLord both of the dead and of the living.

¹⁰But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you ^aregard your brother with contempt? For ^bwe will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

¹¹For it is written,

“^aAs I live, says the Lord, ^bevery knee shall bow to Me,

And every tongue shall ¹give praise to God.”

¹²So then ^aeach one of us will give an account of himself to God.

¹³Therefore let us not ^ajudge one another anymore, but rather determine this—^bnot to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.

¹⁴I know and am convinced ¹in the Lord Jesus that ^anothing is unclean in itself; but to him who ^bthinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

¹⁵For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer ^awalking according to love. ^bDo not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.

¹⁶Therefore ^ado not let what is for you a good thing be ¹spoken of as evil;

¹⁷for the kingdom of God ^ais not eating and drinking, but righteousness and ^bpeace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸For he who in this way ^aserves Christ is ^bacceptable to God and approved by men.

¹⁹So then ¹we ^apursue the things which make for peace and the ^bbuilding up of one another.

^20aDo not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. ^bAll things indeed are clean, but ^cthey are evil for the man who eats ¹and gives offense.

^21aIt is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles.

²²The faith which you have, have ¹as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who ^adoes not condemn himself in what he approves.

²³But ^ahe who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.