Romans · 14 verses
Romans 13
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
Every debt is cancelled except one: love. Then, with a splendid change of department, Jesus Christ is brought in as clothing.
The authorities and their duesvv. 1–7
The chapter begins with governing authorities, declaring that every existing authority has been appointed by God. Resistance is therefore treated as opposition to what God has set in place, while rulers are presented as servants who reward right conduct and carry the sword against wrongdoing. Taxes, revenue, respect, and honor all arrive in one orderly procession, each sent to its proper recipient.
The one debt that remainsvv. 8–10
Having listed what is owed to authorities, the chapter leaves one debt standing: love between neighbors. The commandments against adultery, murder, stealing, and coveting are gathered into the single decree to love a neighbor as oneself. It is a remarkably compact account book: love pays what the law requires by doing no wrong.
Daylight, armour, and clothingvv. 11–14
The scene changes from accounts and commandments to the hour itself: sleep is ending, salvation is nearer, and the night is nearly over. The deeds of darkness are to be put aside in favour of the armor of light, with carousing, drunkenness, sexual immorality, debauchery, dissension, and jealousy left in the shadows. The final image is quieter and stranger still: Jesus Christ is to be put on, while provision for the desires of the flesh is left unmade.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Rom 13:1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God.
Rom 13:2Consequently, whoever resists authority is opposing what God has set in place, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
Rom 13:3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will have his approval.
Rom 13:4For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not carry the sword in vain. He is God’s servant, an agent of retribution to the wrongdoer.
Rom 13:5Therefore it is necessary to submit to authority, not only to avoid punishment, but also as a matter of conscience.
Rom 13:6This is also why you pay taxes. For the authorities are God’s servants, who devote themselves to their work.
Rom 13:7Pay everyone what you owe him: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
Rom 13:8Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
Rom 13:9The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Rom 13:10Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Rom 13:11And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
Rom 13:12The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Rom 13:13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
Rom 13:14Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 217 passages were voted onto 14 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 1Titus 3:1Remind the believers to submit to rulers and authorities, to be obedient and ready for every good work,
- 8Romans 13:10Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
- 10Romans 13:8Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
- 8Matthew 22:39–40And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
- 11 Peter 2:13–17Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to the king as the supreme authority,
- 101 Corinthians 13:4–7Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
- 14Ephesians 4:24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
- 9Exodus 20:12–17Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
- 9Mark 12:31The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
- 9Luke 10:27He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
- 1Daniel 2:21He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
- 9Deuteronomy 5:16–21Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
- 14Galatians 5:16–17So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
- 111 Thessalonians 5:5–8For you are all sons of the light and sons of the day; we do not belong to the night or to the darkness.
- 14Galatians 3:27For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
- 111 Peter 4:7The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and sober, so that you can pray.
Onward