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For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
Romans 13:6 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God’s service, attending continually on this very thing.
  • BSB This is also why you pay taxes. For the authorities are God’s servants, who devote themselves to their work.
  • 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 22:17–21Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?
  • Luke 23:2And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King.
  • Luke 20:21–26And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly:
  • Mark 12:14–17And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?
  • Matt 17:24–27And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?
  • 1 Chr 18:14So David reigned over all Israel, and executed judgment and justice among all his people.
  • Exod 18:13–27And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening.
  • Job 29:7–17When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!
  • Ezra 4:20There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, which have ruled over all countries beyond the river; and toll, tribute, and custom, was paid unto them.
  • Ezra 6:8Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king’s goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expenses be given unto these men, that they be not hindered.
  • Deut 1:9–17And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone:
  • Ezra 4:13Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city be builded, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings.
  • Rom 12:8Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
  • Neh 5:4There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards.
  • 2 Sam 8:5And when the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.
  • 1 Sam 7:16–17And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Romans videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Romans 13:6YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on RomansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 13:6 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.