ባለ ሥልጣናትን መታዘዝ
1ማንኛውም ሰው በሥልጣን ላሉት ሹማምት መገዛት ይገባዋል፤ ከእግዚአብሔር ካልሆነ በቀር ሥልጣን የለምና፤ ያሉትም ባለሥልጣናት በእግዚአብሔር የተሾሙ ናቸው። 2ስለዚህ፣ በባለ ሥልጣን ላይ የሚያምፅ በእግዚአብሔር ሥርዐት ላይ ማመፁ ነው፤ ይህን የሚያደርጉትም በራሳቸው ላይ ፍርድን ያመጣሉ። 3ገዦች ክፉ ለሚሠሩ እንጂ መልካም ለሚያደርጉ የሚያስፈሩ አይደሉምና። ባለሥልጣንን እንዳትፈራ ትፈልጋለህን? እንግዲያስ መልካሙን አድርግ፤ እርሱም ያመሰግንሃል፤ 4እርሱ ለአንተ መልካሙን ለማድረግ የእግዚአብሔር አገልጋይ ነውና። ነገር ግን ክፉ ብታደርግ ፍራ፤ ምክንያቱም ሰይፉን በከንቱ አልታጠቀም፤ ክፉ የሚያደርገውን ለመቅጣት የቍጣ መሣሪያ የሆነ፣ የእግዚአብሔር አገልጋይ ነው። 5ስለዚህም ቅጣትን በመፍራት ብቻ ሳይሆን፣ ለኅሊና ሲባል ለባለሥልጣናት መገዛት ተገቢ ነው።
6ግብር የምትከፍሉትም ደግሞ ለዚህ ነው፤ ባለሥልጣናቱ፣ በዚሁ ተግባር ላይ የተሰማሩ የእግዚአብሔር አገልጋዮች ናቸውና፤ 7ለእያንዳንዱ የሚገባውን ስጡ፤ ግብር ከሆነ ግብርን፣ ቀረጥ ከሆነም ቀረጥን፣ መፈራት ለሚገባው መፈራትን፣ ክብር ለሚገባውም ክብርን ስጡ።
ጊዜው ተቃርቧልና ተዋደዱ
8እርስ በርሳችሁ ከመዋደድ በቀር የማንም ዕዳ አይኑርባችሁ፤ ባልንጀራውን የሚወድድ እርሱ ሕግን ፈጽሟልና። 9“አታመንዝር”፣ “አትግደል”፣ “አትስረቅ”፣ “አትመኝ” የሚሉትና ሌሎችም ትእዛዞች ቢኖሩም፣ “ባልንጀራህን እንደ ራስህ አድርገህ ውደድ” በሚለው በዚህ በአንድ ሕግ ተጠቃልለዋል። 10ፍቅር በባልንጀራው ላይ ክፉ አያደርግም፤ ስለዚህ ፍቅር የሕግ መፈጸሚያ ነው።
11ዘመኑን በማስተዋል ይህን አድርጉ፤ ከእንቅልፋችሁ የምትነቁበት ጊዜ አሁን ነው፤ መዳናችን መጀመሪያ ካመንበት ጊዜ ይልቅ አሁን ወደ እኛ ቀርቧልና። 12ሌሊቱ ሊያልፍ፣ ቀኑም ሊጀምር ነው። ስለዚህ የጨለማን ሥራ ጥለን፣ የብርሃንን ጦር ዕቃ እንልበስ። 13በቀን እንደምንመላለስ በአግባብ እንመላለስ። በጭፈራና በስካር አይሁን፤ በዝሙትና በመዳራት አይሁን፤ በክርክርና በቅናትም አይሁን። 14ይልቁንም ጌታ ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስን ልበሱት፤ ምኞቱንም ይፈጽም ዘንድ ለሥጋ13፥14 ወይም ለኀጢአተኛ ተፈጥሮ በዐሳባችሁ አትመቻቹለት።
Submission to Governing Authorities
1Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
Love Fulfills the Law
8Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”13:9 Exodus 20:13-15,17; Deut. 5:17-19,21 and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”13:9 Lev. 19:18 10Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
The Day Is Near
11And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.13:14 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.
