¹³ Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God. ² So the person who resists such authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will incur judgment ³ (for rulers cause no fear for good conduct but for bad). Do you desire not to fear authority? Do good and you will receive its commendation ⁴ because it is God’s servant for your well-being. But be afraid if you do wrong because government does not bear the sword for nothing. It is God’s servant to administer punishment on the person who does wrong. ⁵ Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath of the authorities but also because of your conscience. ⁶ For this reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants devoted to governing. 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.

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

¹¹ And do this because we know 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. 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 Let us live decently as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in discord and jealousy. ¹⁴ Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to arouse its desires.

¹⁴ Now receive the one who is weak in the faith, and do not have disputes over differing opinions. ² One person believes in eating everything, but the weak person eats only vegetables. ³ The one who eats everything must not despise the one who does not, and the one who abstains must not judge the one who eats everything, for God has accepted him. ⁴ Who are you to pass judgment on another’s servant? Before his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

⁵ One person regards one day holier than other days, and another regards them all alike. Each must be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ The one who observes the day does it for the Lord. The one who eats, eats for the Lord because he gives thanks to God, and the one who abstains from eating abstains for the Lord, and he gives thanks to God. ⁷ For none of us lives for himself and none dies for himself. ⁸ If we live, we live for the Lord; if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹ For this reason Christ died and returned to life, so that he may be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

¹⁰ But you who eat vegetables only—why do you judge your brother or sister? And you who eat everything—why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. ¹¹ For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God.” ¹² Therefore, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

¹³ Therefore we must not pass judgment on one another, but rather determine never to place an obstacle or a trap before a brother or sister. ¹⁴ I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean in itself; still, it is unclean to the one who considers it unclean. ¹⁵ For if your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy by your food someone for whom Christ died. ¹⁶ Therefore do not let what you consider good be spoken of as evil. ¹⁷ For the kingdom of God does not consist of food and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ For the one who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by people.

¹⁹ So then, let us pursue what makes for peace and for building up one another. ²⁰ Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. For although all things are clean, it is wrong to cause anyone to stumble by what you eat. ²¹ It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything that causes your brother to stumble. ²² The faith you have, keep to yourself before God. Blessed is the one who does not judge himself by what he approves. ²³ But the man who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not do so from faith, and whatever is not from faith is sin.

¹³⁹ For the music director, a psalm of David.

O Lord, you examine me and know me.

² You know when I sit down and when I get up;

even from far away you understand my motives.

³ You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest;

you are aware of everything I do.

⁴ Certainly my tongue does not frame a word

without you, O Lord, being thoroughly aware of it.

⁵ You squeeze me in from behind and in front;

you place your hand on me.

⁶ Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension;

it is so far beyond me, I am unable to fathom it.

⁷ Where can I go to escape your Spirit?

Where can I flee to escape your presence?

⁸ If I were to ascend to heaven, you would be there.

If I were to sprawl out in Sheol, there you would be.

⁹ If I were to fly away on the wings of the dawn

and settle down on the other side of the sea,

¹⁰ even there your hand would guide me,

your right hand would grab hold of me.

¹¹ If I were to say, “Certainly the darkness will cover me,

and the light will turn to night all around me,”

¹² even the darkness is not too dark for you to see,

and the night is as bright as day;

darkness and light are the same to you.

¹³ Certainly you made my mind and heart;

you wove me together in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴ I will give you thanks because your deeds are awesome and amazing.

You knew me thoroughly;

¹⁵ my bones were not hidden from you,

when I was made in secret

and sewed together in the depths of the earth.

¹⁶ Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb.

All the days ordained for me

were recorded in your scroll

before one of them came into existence.

¹⁷ How difficult it is for me to fathom your thoughts about me, O God!

How vast is their sum total.

¹⁸ If I tried to count them,

they would outnumber the grains of sand.

Even if I finished counting them,

I would still have to contend with you.

¹⁹ If only you would kill the wicked, O God!

Get away from me, you violent men!

²⁰ They rebel against you and act deceitfully;

your enemies lie.

²¹ O Lord, do I not hate those who hate you

and despise those who oppose you?

²² I absolutely hate them;

they have become my enemies.

²³ Examine me, O God, and probe my thoughts.

Test me, and know my concerns.

²⁴ See if there is any idolatrous way in me,

and lead me in the everlasting way.