Romans 13:1–14

Submit to Government

13Let every soul be ^asubject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. ²Therefore whoever resists ^bthe authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will ¹bring judgment on themselves. ³For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? ^cDo what is good, and you will have praise from the same. ⁴For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. ⁵Therefore ^dyou must be subject, not only because of wrath ^ebut also for conscience’ sake. ⁶For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. ^7fRender therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

Love Your Neighbor

⁸Owe no one anything except to love one another, for ^ghe who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹For the commandments, ^h“You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” ²“You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, ⁱ“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore ^jlove is the fulfillment of the law.

Put on Christ

¹¹And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time ^kto awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. ¹²The night is far spent, the day is at hand. ^lTherefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and ^mlet us put on the armor of light. ¹³ⁿLet us walk ³properly, as in the day, ^onot in revelry and drunkenness, ^pnot in lewdness and lust, ^qnot in strife and envy. ¹⁴But ^rput on the Lord Jesus Christ, and ^smake no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.