Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
Parallel translations
- WEB Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
- KJV Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
- NKJV Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.
- NASB Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the Law.
- NLT Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.
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
Owe nothing except the continuing debt of love, for love fulfills the law.
Overview
Paul transitions from civic debts to the one obligation that is never discharged: love for one another. Loving one's neighbor is presented as the fulfillment of God's law toward others. This roots Christian ethics not in mere rule-keeping but in the love that the gospel produces.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Rom 13:10Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
- Matt 22:39–40And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
- Gal 5:14The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
- Matt 7:12In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.
- Prov 3:27–28Do not withhold good from the deserving when it is within your power to act.
- Rom 13:7Pay everyone what you owe him: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
- John 13:34A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.
- Jas 2:8If you really fulfill the royal law stated in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
- Col 3:14And over all these virtues put on love, which is the bond of perfect unity.
- Deut 24:14–15Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.
- 1 Tim 1:5The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith.
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 13:8 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.