If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone.
Parallel translations
- WEB If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men.
- KJV If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
- NKJV If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
- NASB If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people.
- NLT Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
So far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Overview
Paul exhorts believers to be peacemakers, doing all in their power to live peaceably. The careful qualifications ('if possible' and 'as much as it is up to you') acknowledge that peace is not always achievable, since it also depends on others. Believers are responsible for their own peaceable conduct, not for compromising truth or controlling another's response.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Heb 12:14Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.
- Matt 5:9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
- Rom 14:19So then, let us pursue what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
- 2 Cor 13:11Finally, brothers, rejoice! Aim for perfect harmony, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
- Jas 3:16–18For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.
- Gal 5:22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
- Mark 9:50Salt is good, but if the salt loses its saltiness, with what will you season it? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
- Prov 12:20Deceit is in the hearts of those who devise evil, but the counselors of peace have joy.
- 1 Pet 3:11He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.
- 2 Tim 2:22Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
- Ps 34:14Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
- Rom 14:17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
- Eph 4:3and with diligence to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
- Col 3:14–15And over all these virtues put on love, which is the bond of perfect unity.
- 1 Th 5:13In love, hold them in highest regard because of their work. Live in peace with one another.
- Matt 5:5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
- Ps 120:5–7Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar!
- 1 Cor 7:15But if the unbeliever leaves, let him go. The believing brother or sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to live in peace.
- 2 Sam 20:19I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel, but you are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the LORD’s inheritance?”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 12:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.