Let every soul subject itself to the authorities that are set over it, for there is no authority except by God's will, and those which exist are appointed by God. Thus anyone who sets himself against authority is rebelling against the ordinance of God, and the rebels will bring judgment upon themselves. The men in power are nothing for good conduct to fear, only for bad conduct. Do you wish not to be afraid of authority? Then continue to do good, and you will have praise from it, for authority is God's minister for your good. But if you do evil, then be afraid, since it is not for nothing that that minister wears a sword, since he is God's minister, vindictive in anger against the evildoer. So it is necessary for you to subject yourself, not only because of the anger but because of your conscience. This is also why you pay your taxes. These are the servants of God devoted to this very purpose. Pay all men what you owe them; pay the tax to whom you owe the tax, the toll to whom you owe the toll; fear him you ought to fear, honor whom you ought to honor.
Do not be obliged to anyone for anything, except to love each other; he who loves has fulfilled all the rest of the law. For: You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and any other commandment there may be, all are summed up in this statement: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does your neighbor no harm, so love is the fulfillment of the law. And do this knowing what time it is, that now is the hour for you to waken from sleep, since our salvation is now much closer to us than when we got our faith. The night is advanced, the day is near. Let us put away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. As in daylight let us go about decently, without reveling and drunkenness, without lovemaking and debauchery, without contentiousness and jealousy. But arm yourselves in the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not take thought for your body and its desires.
Welcome the company of the man who is weak in faith, but not to dispute over fine points. For some have faith that they can eat anything, but the weak man eats only vegetables. Let the man who does eat not ridicule the one who abstains, and let the one who abstains not judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge the servant of another? He stands or falls by his own master. But he will stand, for the Lord has the power to make him stand.
One man prefers one day to another; another man approves of every day. Let each one be convinced in his own mind; for he who favors a day favors it for the Lord. The eater eats for the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; the abstainer abstains for the Lord, and he too gives thanks to God. For not one of us lives for himself, and not one of us dies for himself; if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord. Whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For that was why Christ died and came to life, to be Lord over the dead and the living. You, why do you judge your brother? Or you, why do you, in turn, ridicule your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God; since it is written: I live, says the Lord, that every knee shall bend to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So each of us shall account for himself to God.
Then let us stop judging each other; rather, use your judgment to keep from offending your brother or putting a stumbling block in his way. I know and believe through the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; only if one thinks that something is unclean, it is unclean for him. If your brother is hurt by what you eat, you are not walking in the way of love. Do not undo him, for whom Christ died, through what you eat. Do not let what is good for you be cause for ill repute. For the Kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit; and he who in this Spirit serves the Christ is pleasing to God and respected by men. Let us then pursue the ways of peace and the edification of each other. Do not undo the work of God for the sake of food. All things are pure, but it is bad for a man to eat in a way that will mislead. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if by this your brother is misled; as for you, keep your own faith before God. Happy is he who does not have to judge himself in the matter of what he approves. If one doubts but eats, he is guilty, because he does not do it from faith; and anything done without faith is a sin.
!We who are strong have a duty to put up with the weaknesses of those who are not strong, rather than pleasing ourselves. Let every man try to please his neighbor, to build up the community; for Christ also did not please himself, but, as it is written: The revilements of those who reviled you fell upon me. All that was written in days before was written for our instruction so that, through steadfastness and through the exhortation of the scriptures, we may have hope. May the God of steadfastness and exhortation grant you concord among yourselves after the example of Christ Jesus, so that together with one voice you may glorify God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So welcome each other, as Christ has welcomed us, for the glory of God. For I say that Christ was born to be the minister of the circumcised for the sake of God's truth, to confirm the promises made to our fathers; but also, for the Gentiles to glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: Therefore I shall acknowledge you among the Gentiles, and I will sing the praises of your n^e. And again it says: Rejoice, Gentiles, along with his people; and again: All nations, praise the Lord, and let all peoples praise him. And, once more, Isaiah says: There shall be a scion of Jesse who shall rise up to rule the nations, and in him the nations will have hope. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, by your faith, so that your hope will be abundant through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Concerning you, my brothers, I am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, and complete in all understanding, and able to advise each other. But I have written to you rather boldly in part, to remind you, because God gave me the privilege of being the minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as priest the gospel of God; so that the offering up of the Gentiles to him may be acceptable and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. I ^ full of exultation before God because of Christ Jesus, for I will not dare speak of anything except Christ working through me to make the Gentiles obedient to his will;
by word and act, by the power of miracles and portents, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus I have toured about from Jerusalem as far as Illyria to complete the preaching of the gospel of Christ, so ^bitious was I to bring the gospel where the name of Christ was not kno^n, so as not to build on someone else's foundation but, as it is written: They who had not been told of him shall see him, and they who never heard of him shall know him.