Rom 12-13 | ESV | STEP | I appeal to you therefore , brothers , by the mercies of God , to present your bodies as a living sacrifice , holy and acceptable to God , which is your spiritual worship .

bjCited from Lev. 19:18

bk[John 14:15]; See ver. 8

bl 1 Cor. 15:34; Eph. 5:14; 1 Thess. 5:6

bm[Isa. 56:1; Luke 21:28]

bn[John 9:4]

bo Col. 3:8

bp Eph. 5:11; [John 3:20]

bq 2 Cor. 6:7; Eph. 6:11, 13; 1 Thess. 5:8

br 1 Thess. 4:12

bs Luke 21:34; Gal. 5:21; 1 Pet. 4:3

bt James 3:14, 16

bu Gal. 3:27; [Job 29:14; Ps. 132:9; Luke 24:49; Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10]

bv Gal. 5:16; 1 Pet. 2:11

Romans 12

A Living Sacrifice

1 ^aI appeal to you therefore, brothers, ^{▼▼Or brothers and sisters} by the mercies of God, ^cto present your bodies ^das a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ^{▼▼Or your rational service} 2 ^fDo not be conformed to this world, ^{▼▼Greek age} but be transformed by ^hthe renewal of your mind, that by testing you may ⁱdiscern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. ^{▼▼Or what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God}

Gifts of Grace

3 For ^kby the grace given to me I say to everyone among you ^lnot to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, ^meach according to ⁿthe measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For ^oas in one body we have many members, ^{▼▼Greek parts; also verse 5} and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, ^qthough many, ^rare one body in Christ, and individually ^smembers one of another. 6 ^tHaving gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if ^uprophecy, ^vin proportion to our faith; 7 if ^wservice, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; ^xthe one who leads, ^{▼▼Or gives aid} with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with ^zcheerfulness.

Marks of the True Christian

9 ^aaLet love be genuine. ^abAbhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 ^acLove one another with brotherly affection. ^adOutdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, ^aebe fervent in spirit, ^{▼▼Or fervent in the Spirit} ^agserve the Lord. 12 ^ahRejoice in hope, ^aibe patient in tribulation, ^ajbe constant in prayer. 13 ^akContribute to the needs of the saints and ^alseek to show hospitality.

14 ^amBless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 ^anRejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 ^aoLive in harmony with one another. ^apDo not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. ^{▼▼Or give yourselves to humble tasks} ^arNever be wise in your own sight. 17 ^asRepay no one evil for evil, but ^atgive thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, ^aulive peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, ^avnever avenge yourselves, but leave it ^{▼▼Greek give place} to the wrath of God, for it is written, ^ax“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, ^ay“if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 13

Submission to the Authorities

1 Let every person ^azbe subject to the governing authorities. For ^bathere is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you ^bbwill receive his approval, 4 for ^bche is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, ^bdan avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also ^befor the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 ^bfPay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Fulfilling the Law Through Love

8 ^bgOwe no one anything, except to love each other, for ^bhthe one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, ^bi“You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ^bj“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore ^bklove is the fulfilling of the law.

11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you ^blto wake from sleep. ^bmFor salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 ^bnThe night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us ^bocast off ^bpthe works of darkness and ^bqput on the armor of light. 13 ^brLet us walk properly as in the daytime, ^bsnot in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, ^btnot in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But ^buput on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, ^bvto gratify its desires.