Romans 13

Christians should obey ruling powers

1 Everyone must obey the government officers. It is God who gives the authority to rule. The people who rule have received their authority from God. 2 So anyone who refuses to obey that authority is refusing to obey God. That person will receive the proper punishment.

3 People who do good things do not need to be afraid of the rulers. Only people who do bad things should be afraid of the rulers. Do you want not to be afraid of the rulers? Then you must do good things and they will praise you. 4 Rulers are God's servants. They help you to do good things. But if you do bad things, then you should be afraid of them. Their authority to punish people is real. On God's behalf they punish people who do bad things. 5 So you must obey the authority of rulers. Obey them not only so that they do not punish you. Do it because you know that it is the right thing to do.

6 This is also the reason why you pay taxes to the government. You should pay them, because the officers are God's servants. They are doing the work that is their duty. 7 So you must give to each person what you ought to give them. Pay taxes to the people who receive taxes. Do that for every kind of tax. Respect those people that you should respect. Praise the people that you should praise.

The most important rule is to love other people

8 Always pay your debts to other people. The only debt that you should have is to love each other. Anyone who loves other people has obeyed God's Law completely.

9 The commands in God's Law say this: ‘Do not have sex with anyone that you are not married to. Do not kill anyone. Do not rob anyone. Do not want things that belong to other people.’ All these commands, and all the other rules in God's Law, are included in one rule. That one rule is: ‘Love other people as much as you love yourself.’ 10 If you love other people, you will never do anything bad to them. So anyone who loves other people has obeyed God's Law completely.

Christians must live in a good way

11 Live in that way, because you know what is happening at this time now. It is time for you to wake up from your sleep. The time when God will finally save us is near. That time is nearer now than when we first believed in him. 12 The night has nearly finished and the day is almost here. So we must stop doing the bad things that belong to the dark. Instead, we must take weapons like soldiers who are ready to fight in the light.

13 We should live in a good way, as people live in the light of day. We should not go to wild parties and become drunk. We must not have sex with anyone that we are not married to. We must not do wrong things with our bodies. We must not cause trouble. We must not be jealous of other people. 14 Instead, live with the Lord Jesus Christ as your guide. Do not even think about the bad things that your weak human nature wants to do.