If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men.
Parallel translations
- KJV If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
- BSB If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone.
- 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 12:14Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord,
- Matt 5:9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
- Rom 14:19So then, let us follow after things which make for peace, and things by which we may build one another up.
- 2 Cor 13:11Finally, brothers, rejoice. Be perfected, be comforted, be of the same mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.
- Jas 3:16–18For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed.
- Gal 5:22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,
- Mark 9:50Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, with what will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
- Prov 12:20Deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil, but joy comes to the promoters of peace.
- 1 Pet 3:11Let him turn away from evil, and do good. Let him seek peace, and pursue it.
- 2 Tim 2:22Flee from youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
- Ps 34:14Depart from evil, and do good. seek peace, and pursue it.
- Rom 14:17for God’s Kingdom is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
- Eph 4:3being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
- Col 3:14–15Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.
- 1 Th 5:13and to respect and honor them in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves.
- Matt 5:5Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
- Ps 120:5–7Woe is me, that I live in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
- 1 Cor 7:15Yet if the unbeliever departs, let there be separation. The brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us in peace.
- 2 Sam 20:19I am among those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up Yahweh’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.