Romans 13

Every person should place himself under the governing authorities. There is no authority except the authority that comes from God, and the authorities that exist have been put in place by God.

1Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

Note"Higher powers" and "the powers that be" are not supernatural forces. The Greek word means governing authorities: magistrates, governors, tax officials, the emperor's administration. "Every soul" is a Hebrew-flavored way of saying every person, the whole self, not the soul as opposed to the body. Paul is writing to people living in Rome itself, the administrative center of the empire.

2So anyone who fights against the authority is fighting against what God has arranged, and those who do this will bring judgment down on themselves.

2Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

Note"Damnation" in 1611 English meant a sentence of condemnation, a judgment passed against someone. It had not yet narrowed to mean eternal punishment. The Greek word is likewise the ordinary one for a judicial verdict, and readers have long differed over whether the verdict in view is God's or the magistrate's; the wording leaves both open. "Ordinance" means an arrangement or institution, something set in place, from the same root as "ordained" in verse 1.

3Rulers are not something to fear when you do good; they are something to fear when you do wrong. Do you want to live without fear of the one in charge? Then do what is right, and he will speak well of you.

3For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:

Note"Thou shalt have praise of the same" means you will receive approval from that authority. In Roman cities, publicly commending citizens who had benefited the community was a formal practice, recorded in inscriptions and voted by local councils, so the phrase suggests official recognition rather than private compliments.

4He is God's servant, working for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because he does not carry the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, the one who carries out punishment on the person who does wrong.

4For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

Note"Minister" here does not mean a clergyman. The Greek word is the ordinary term for a servant or attendant, someone who carries out another person's business. "He beareth not the sword in vain" refers to the sword as the standing symbol of a magistrate's power to punish, up to and including execution. "A revenger to execute wrath" means an agent who carries out retribution on behalf of the state, not a person taking private revenge.

5So you have to place yourself under authority, not only because of the punishment, but also because of your own conscience.

5Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.

Note"Ye must needs be subject" is old English for "it is necessary to submit." "Not only for wrath" means not merely to avoid punishment; "wrath" here is the penalty the authority inflicts, carrying over the word used in verse 4.

6This is also why you pay taxes. The authorities are God's servants, and they give their full time to this very work.

6For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.

Note"For for this cause" is not a misprint. The first "for" ties the sentence to what came before, and the second belongs to the phrase "for this cause," meaning on account of this. "Tribute" is the direct tax, assessed on land and on persons, that Rome levied on its subject populations. Taxation was a live grievance in Rome in these years, and resentment of the men who collected it was widespread.

7So give everyone what you owe him: taxes to the one who is owed taxes, duties to the one who is owed duties, respect to the one who is owed respect, honor to the one who is owed honor.

7Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

NoteThe King James distinguishes two kinds of payment. "Tribute" is direct tax, assessed on land and persons. "Custom" is indirect tax: tolls, duties and levies on goods moved or sold, collected at ports, bridges and city gates by contractors who took a cut. "Dues" simply means what is owed. "Fear" here is the deference owed to someone holding power over you, not fright.

8Do not stay in debt to anyone, except the debt of loving one another. Whoever loves another person has done everything the law requires.

8Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

Note"Owe no man any thing" keeps the accounting language of verse 7 going: the verb is the ordinary commercial one for standing in debt, matching "dues" in the previous verse. The sentence turns that image around, setting one obligation against all the others.

9The commands "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not give false testimony," "Do not covet," and any other command, are all summed up in this one sentence: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

9For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

NoteThe commands quoted are from the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5). "Thou shalt not kill" translates a Hebrew verb meaning unlawful killing, murder; it is not a blanket word covering every kind of killing. "Covet" means to set your desire on what belongs to someone else. "Briefly comprehended" means summed up, gathered into a single statement. "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" is quoted from Leviticus 19:18, where "neighbour" means a fellow member of your community, anyone you have dealings with, not merely the person living next door.

10Love does no harm to its neighbor. So love is the full carrying out of the law.

10Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

11Do all this because you know what kind of time this is. The hour has come for you to wake up out of your sleep, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

11And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

Note"Knowing the time" uses the Greek word kairos, which means a decisive moment or season, the critical or opportune time, rather than time as duration on a clock. "High time to awake out of sleep" draws on the ordinary picture of a household being roused at daybreak.

12The night is almost over; the day is close. So let us throw off the deeds that belong to the dark, and put on the armor that belongs to the light.

12The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

Note"Far spent" means nearly over, and "at hand" means close, about to arrive. "Cast off" and "put on" are words for undressing and dressing: the picture is of someone getting up at dawn, shedding night clothes and putting on the day's. "Armour" turns that daytime clothing into a soldier's equipment, the kit a man buckles on at the start of his watch.

13Let us live decently, the way people act in broad daylight: no wild parties or drunkenness, no sexual sin or shameless behavior, no quarreling or jealousy.

13Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

Note"Walk" is a standard biblical idiom for the way you conduct your life. "Honestly" in 1611 meant decently, respectably, in a manner fit to be seen in public; it did not mean truthfully. "Rioting" translates a Greek word for a drunken revel, the noisy procession through the streets after a feast. "Chambering" is the translators' euphemism for sexual intercourse, built on "chamber," meaning a bedroom; the Greek word is a plain term for sexual acts. "Wantonness" means unrestrained, shameless indulgence, behavior with no sense of limit.

14Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no plans for how to satisfy the desires of the flesh.

14But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Note"Put ye on" is the same clothing word as in verse 12: put Christ on the way you put on a garment. "Make not provision" uses a word for planning ahead and laying in supplies, as in provisioning a household or an army for what it will need. "The flesh" is Paul's regular term for human nature as it works against God; it does not simply mean the body or physical life.