Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let us walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy.
- KJV Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
- NKJV Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
- NASB Let’s behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and debauchery, not in strife and jealousy.
- NLT Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy.
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
Walk honorably as in daylight, not in drunkenness, immorality, or strife.
Overview
Paul specifies what casting off darkness means: turning from carousing, sexual sin, and quarreling, the deeds that belong to the night. Believers are to live as those already in the light of day, with visibly upright conduct. This verse famously helped lead Augustine to conversion, illustrating its power to call sinners to new life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 40
- Gal 5:21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
- Eph 5:18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
- 1 Th 4:3–5For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality;
- 1 Pet 4:3–5For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.
- Eph 5:15Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
- 1 Th 4:12Then you will behave properly toward outsiders, without being dependent on anyone.
- 1 Jn 2:6Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked.
- Luke 21:34But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
- 1 Pet 2:1–2Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.
- 1 Th 2:12encouraging you, comforting you, and urging you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
- 1 Th 5:17Pray without ceasing.
- Col 3:5Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
- Gal 5:25–26Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit.
- Col 1:10so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
- Phil 1:27Nevertheless, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending side by side for the faith of the gospel,
- Eph 5:2–5and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.
- 2 Pet 2:18–20With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.
- Gal 5:19The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
- 2 Jn 1:4I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father has commanded us.
- 1 Cor 6:9–10Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts,
- Jas 4:5Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?
- Jas 3:14–16But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.
- Gal 5:15–16But if you keep on biting and devouring one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.
- 1 Pet 2:11–12Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
- Eph 5:8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
- Phil 2:3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.
- Jude 1:23save others by snatching them from the fire; and to still others show mercy tempered with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.
- 2 Pet 2:13–14The harm they will suffer is the wages of their wickedness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deception as they feast with you.
- Isa 28:7–8These also stagger from wine and stumble from strong drink: Priests and prophets reel from strong drink and are befuddled by wine. They stumble because of strong drink, muddled in their visions and stumbling in their judgments.
- Phil 4:8–9Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.
- Luke 1:6Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord.
- Acts 2:15These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It is only the third hour of the day!
- Luke 17:27–28People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
- Eph 4:17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
- Luke 16:19Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.
- Matt 24:48–51But suppose that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master will be away a long time.’
- Amos 6:4–6You lie on beds inlaid with ivory, and lounge upon your couches. You dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall.
- Prov 23:20Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat.
- Phil 3:16–20Nevertheless, we must live up to what we have already attained.
- Isa 22:12–13On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 13:13 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.