Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. | Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God. |
Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. | For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God’s service, continually doing this very thing. |
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Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority. | Therefore give everyone what you owe: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if customs, then customs; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. |
Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. | Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. |
For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” | For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” |
Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law. | Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law. |
Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires. | But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts. |
Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. | Now accept one who is weak in faith, but not for disputes over opinions. |
Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. | Don’t let him who eats despise him who doesn’t eat. Don’t let him who doesn’t eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him. |
Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval. | Who are you who judge another’s servant? To his own lord he stands or falls. Yes, he will be made to stand, for God has power to make him stand. |
In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. | One man esteems one day as more important. Another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind. |
If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. | For if we live, we live to the Lord. Or if we die, we die to the Lord. If therefore we live or die, we are the Lord’s. |
For the Scriptures say, “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.’” | For it is written, “‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘to me every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess to God.’” |
So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall. | Therefore let’s not judge one another any more, but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block in his brother’s way, or an occasion for falling. |
We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. | Let each one of us please his neighbor for that which is good, to be building him up. |
Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled. | For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that through perseverance and through encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. |
May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. | Now the God of perseverance and of encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus. |
Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory. | Therefore accept one another, even as Christ also accepted you, to the glory of God. |
I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. | Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope in the power of the Holy Spirit. |
Then, by the will of God, I will be able to come to you with a joyful heart, and we will be an encouragement to each other. | That I may come to you in joy through the will of God, and together with you, find rest. |
And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them. | Now I beg you, brothers, look out for those who are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and turn away from them. |
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. | And the God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. |
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. | Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. |
For I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord. When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours. | For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, to the end that you may be established; that is, that I with you may be encouraged in you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. |
For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. | For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek. |