5. So you must yield to the government, not only because you might be punished, but because you know it is right.
6. This is also why you pay taxes. Rulers are working for God and give their time to their work.
7. Pay everyone, then, what you owe. If you owe any kind of tax, pay it. Show respect and honor to them all.
8. Do not owe people anything, except always owe love to each other, because the person who loves others has obeyed all the law.
9. The law says, “You must not be guilty of adultery. You must not murder anyone. You must not steal. You must not want to take your neighbor’s things.” All these commands and all others are really only one rule: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
10. Love never hurts a neighbor, so loving is obeying all the law.
11. Do this because we live in an important time. It is now time for you to wake up from your sleep, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.