1   Everyone must obey state authorities, because no authority exists without God's permission, and the existing authorities have been put there by God. ^note

2   Whoever

opposes the existing authority opposes what God has ordered; and anyone who does so will bring judgment on himself.

3   For rulers are not to be feared by those who do good, but by those who do evil. Would you like to be unafraid of the man in authority? Then do what is good, and he will praise you,

4   because he is God's servant working for your own good. But if you do evil, then be afraid of him, because his power to punish is real. He is God's servant and carries out God's punishment on those who do evil.

5   For this reason you must obey the authorities—not just because of God's punishment, but also as a matter of conscience.

6   That is also why you pay taxes, because the authorities are working for God when they fulfill their duties.

7   Pay, then, what you owe them; pay them your personal and property taxes, and show respect and honor for them all. ^note Duties toward One Another

8   Be under obligation to no one— the only obligation you have is to love one another. Whoever does this has obeyed the Law.

9   The commandments, “Do not commit adultery; do not commit murder; do not steal; do not desire what belongs to someone else”—all these, and any others besides, are summed up in the one command, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” ^note

10   If you love someone, you will never do him wrong; to love, then, is to obey the whole Law.

11   You must do this, because you know that the time has come for you to wake up from your sleep. For the moment when we will be saved is closer now than it was when we first believed.

12   The night is nearly over, day is almost here. Let us stop doing the things that belong to the dark, and let us take up weapons for fighting in the light.

13   Let us conduct ourselves properly, as people who live in the light of day—no orgies or drunkenness, no immorality or indecency, no fighting or jealousy.

14   But take up the weapons of the Lord Jesus Christ, and stop paying attention to your sinful nature and satisfying its desires.

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