Romans 13–15

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.

Chapter 15

Self-denial on Behalf of Others

¹Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of ^athose without strength and not just please ourselves.

²Each of us is to ^aplease his neighbor ¹for his good, to his ^bedification.

³For even ^aChrist did not please Himself; but as it is written, “^bThe reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.”

⁴For ^awhatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

⁵Now may the ^aGod ¹who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you ^bto be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,

⁶so that with one accord you may with one ¹voice glorify ^athe God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷Therefore, ^aaccept one another, just as Christ also accepted ¹us to the glory of God.

⁸For I say that Christ has become a servant to ^athe circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm ^bthe promises given to the fathers,

⁹and for ^athe Gentiles to ^bglorify God for His mercy; as it is written,

“^cTherefore I will ¹give praise to You among the Gentiles,

And I will sing to Your name.”

¹⁰Again he says,

“^aRejoice, O Gentiles, with His people.”

¹¹And again,

“^aPraise the Lord all you Gentiles,

And let all the peoples praise Him.”

¹²Again Isaiah says,

“^aThere shall come ^bthe root of Jesse,

And He who arises to rule over the Gentiles,

^cIn Him shall the Gentiles hope.”

¹³Now may the God of hope fill you with all ^ajoy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope ^bby the power of the Holy Spirit.

¹⁴And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of ^agoodness, filled with ^ball knowledge and able also to admonish one another.

¹⁵But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of ^athe grace that was given me ¹from God,

¹⁶to be ^aa minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the ^bgospel of God, so that my ^coffering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁷Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found ^areason for boasting in ^bthings pertaining to God.

¹⁸For I will not presume to speak of anything ¹except what ^aChrist has accomplished through me, ²resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed,

¹⁹in the power of ^1asigns and wonders, ^bin the power of the Spirit; so that ^cfrom Jerusalem and round about as ^dfar as Illyricum I have ²fully preached the gospel of Christ.

²⁰And thus I aspired to ^apreach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, ^bso that I would not build on another man’s foundation;

²¹but as it is written,

“^aThey who had no news of Him shall see,

And they who have not heard shall understand.”

²²For this reason ^aI have often been prevented from coming to you;

²³but now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I ^ahave had for many years a longing to come to you

²⁴whenever I ^ago to Spain—for I hope to see you in passing, and to be ^bhelped on my way there by you, when I have first ^cenjoyed your company ¹for a while—

²⁵but now, ^aI am going to Jerusalem ^bserving the ¹saints.

²⁶For ^aMacedonia and ^bAchaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the ¹saints in Jerusalem.

²⁷Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For ^aif the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things.

²⁸Therefore, when I have finished this, and ^ahave ¹put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will ^bgo on by way of you to Spain.

²⁹I know that when ^aI come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

³⁰Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by ^athe love of the Spirit, to ^bstrive together with me in your prayers to God for me,

³¹that I may be ^arescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my ^bservice for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the ^1csaints;

³²so that ^aI may come to you in joy by ^bthe will of God and find refreshing rest in your company.

³³Now ^athe God of peace be with you all. Amen.