This is also why you pay taxes. For the authorities are God’s servants, who devote themselves to their work.
Parallel translations
- WEB For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God’s service, attending continually on this very thing.
- KJV For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
- NKJV For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing.
- NASB For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.
- NLT Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do.
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
For this reason you pay taxes, since rulers are God's servants devoted to governing.
Overview
Paul draws a practical conclusion: paying taxes is part of recognizing government's God-given role. He again calls officials God's 'servants,' attending continually to the work of maintaining order. This grounds a mundane duty in the larger theology of God-ordained authority.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Matt 22:17–21So tell us what You think: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
- Luke 23:2And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man subverting our nation, forbidding payment of taxes to Caesar, and proclaiming Himself to be Christ, a King.”
- Luke 20:21–26“Teacher,” they inquired, “we know that You speak and teach correctly. You show no partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
- Mark 12:14–17“Teacher,” they said, “we know that You are honest and seek favor from no one. Indeed, You are impartial and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay them or not?”
- Matt 17:24–27After they had arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, “Does your Teacher pay the two drachmas?”
- 1 Chr 18:14Thus David reigned over all Israel and administered justice and righteousness for all his people:
- Exod 18:13–27The next day Moses took his seat to judge the people, and they stood around him from morning until evening.
- Job 29:7–17When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,
- Ezra 4:20And mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole region west of the Euphrates; and tribute, duty, and toll were paid to them.
- Ezra 6:8I hereby decree what you must do for these elders of the Jews who are rebuilding this house of God: The cost is to be paid in full to these men from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces west of the Euphrates, so that the work will not be hindered.
- Deut 1:9–17At that time I said to you, “I cannot carry the burden for you alone.
- Ezra 4:13Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, they will not pay tribute, duty, or toll, and the royal treasury will suffer.
- Rom 12:8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is giving, let him give generously; if it is leading, let him lead with diligence; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
- Neh 5:4Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards.
- 2 Sam 8:5When the Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand men.
- 1 Sam 7:16–17Every year he would go on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all these places.
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 13:6 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.