Consequently, whoever resists authority is opposing what God has set in place, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore he who resists the authority, withstands the ordinance of God; and those who withstand will receive to themselves judgment.
- KJV Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
- NKJV Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
- NASB Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.
- NLT So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished.
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
To resist legitimate authority is to resist God's ordinance and incur judgment.
Overview
Building on verse 1, Paul warns that rebellion against rightful authority is, in principle, rebellion against the God who established it, bringing deserved judgment. The point is the God-given role of government, not the endorsement of every act a ruler commits. It calls believers to respect the institution of civil order as part of submission to God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- 1 Pet 2:13Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to the king as the supreme authority,
- Titus 3:1Remind the believers to submit to rulers and authorities, to be obedient and ready for every good work,
- Rom 13:5Therefore it is necessary to submit to authority, not only to avoid punishment, but also as a matter of conscience.
- Jas 3:1Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
- Luke 20:47They defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will receive greater condemnation.”
- Mark 12:40They defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will receive greater condemnation.”
- Matt 23:13Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.
- Jer 23:8–17Instead they will say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought and led the descendants of the house of Israel up out of the land of the north and all the other lands to which He had banished them.’ Then they will dwell once more in their own land.”
- Jer 44:14–17so that none of the remnant of Judah who have gone to reside in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah, where they long to return and live; for none will return except a few fugitives.”
- Isa 58:2For day after day they seek Me and delight to know My ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not forsake the justice of their God. They ask Me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God.”
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 13:2 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.