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“Every Person Must Submit Himself to the Governing Authorities”
1 Every person must submit himself to the governing authorities. No one has power to rule unless God permits it,+ you see, and the existing authorities have been set in place by God.+
2 So then, if+ someone is rebelling against the authority, it is+ the appointment of God himself+ against which he is in rebellion, and those who are in rebellion will bring upon themselves punishment.+
3 It isn’t+ those who do good, you see, who need to be afraid of rulers, but those who do evil.+ Would ˢyou like to live without having to be afraid of the authority? Continually do what is good,+ and you will receive praise from the governing authority,+
4 because it is God’s+ very+ servant for ˢyour good.+ If ˢyou are doing, however, what is evil,+ then you should be afraid, because it is+ not without reason that it bears the sword. It is, again,+ the very servant of God,+ an avenger appointed to execute punishment against those who do evil.+
5 That is why one must submit himself, not simply to avoid punishment,+ but also to maintain a clear conscience.+
6 That is also the reason why ᵖyou pay taxes.+ The authorities+ are working in the service of God, you see,+ when they fulfill their duties, giving focused time and attention to their task.+
7 Pay everyone what is owed them: To whom taxes are due, taxes; to whom revenue is due, revenue; to whom respect is due, respect; to whom honor is due, honor.
8 Let nothing you owe,+ to anyone, go unpaid, although there is one obligation you will never get out of:+ Loving+ one another.+ If+ a person loves his neighbor, you see, it is+ Torah that he has fulfilled.+
9 Indeed, the commandments, “ˢYou must+ not commit adultery,”+ “ˢYou must not murder,”+ “ˢYou must not steal,”+ “ˢYou must not covet,”+ and any other commandment besides, are summed up in this command: “ˢYou are to love your neighbor as yourself.”+
10 Love, to its neighbor, does no+ harm. Love is the fulfillment, therefore,+ of Torah.+
“The Night Is Almost Over”
11 Yes, you must do+ this, since+ you understand the appointed time,+ that already here is the critical time+ for you to wake up from sleep.+ At this moment, you see, our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
12 The night is almost over,+ the Day is drawing near+! We must throw aside, therefore, the kinds of wicked things that people love to do in the darkness,+ and must put on the armor of light.+
13 It is+ as people who belong to the daytime that we are to live our lives, honorably, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality+ and licentious behaviors, not in strife and jealousy.
14 Rather, let the Lord Jesus the Messiah himself be your armor,+ and, in regard to the mortal nature, don’t let your minds plan ways to gratify its sinful desires.+