Romans 13:5-14

13:5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath of the authorities ¹  but also because of your conscience. ²  13:6 For this reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities ³  are God’s servants devoted to governing. ⁴  13:7 Pay everyone what is owed: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

Exhortation to Love Neighbors

13:8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 13:9 For the commandments, ⁵  “Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet,” ⁶  (and if there is any other commandment) are summed up in this, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ⁷  13:10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Motivation to Godly Conduct

13:11 And do this ⁸  because we know ⁹  the time, that it is already the hour for us to awake from sleep, for our salvation is now nearer than when we became believers. 13:12 The night has advanced toward dawn; the day is near. So then we must lay aside the works of darkness, and put on the weapons of light. 13:13 Let us live decently as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in discord and jealousy. 13:14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to arouse its desires. ¹⁰ 

[13:5]  ¹ tn Grk “its wrath”; the referent (the governing authorities) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:5]  ² tn Grk “because of (the) conscience,” but the English possessive “your” helps to show whose conscience the context implies.

[13:6]  ³ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the governing authorities) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:6]  ⁴ tn Grk “devoted to this very thing.”

[13:9]  ⁵ tn Grk “For the…” (with the word “commandments” supplied for clarity). The Greek article (“the”) is used here as a substantiver to introduce the commands that are quoted from the second half of the Decalogue (ExSyn 238).

[13:9]  ⁶ sn A quotation from Exod 20:13-15, 17; Deut 5:17-19, 21.

[13:9]  ⁷ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[13:11]  ⁸ tn Grk “and this,” probably referring to the command to love (13:8-10); hence, “do” is implied from the previous verses.

[13:11]  ⁹ tn The participle εἰδότες (eidotes) has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[13:14]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “make no provision for the flesh unto desires.”