For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God’s service, continually doing this very thing.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God’s service, continually doing this very thing.

  • TYNDALE Tyndale New Testament (1534)

    And even for this cause paye ye tribute. For they are goddes ministers servynge for the same purpose.

  • GNV Geneva Bible (1599)

    For, for this cause ye pay also tribute: for they are Gods ministers, applying themselues for the same thing.

View more translations →

Examined in Scripture Analysis

Contradictions (1)

Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.

  • Should you obey your rulers?

Explore Contradictions →

Cross-references (16)

Passages linked to Romans 13:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.

  • Matthew 22:17-21 Tell us therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test me, you hypocrites? Show me the tax money.” They brought to him a denarius. He asked them, “Whose is this image and inscription?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
  • Luke 20:21-26 They asked him, “Teacher, we know that you say and teach what is right, and aren’t partial to anyone, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, “Why do you test me? Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” They answered, “Caesar’s.” He said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” They weren’t able to trap him in his words before the people. They marveled at his answer and were silent.
  • Luke 23:2 They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man perverting the nation, forbidding paying taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.”
  • Matthew 17:24-27 When they had come to Capernaum, those who collected the didrachma coins came to Peter, and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the didrachma?” He said, “Yes.” When he came into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth receive toll or tribute? From their children, or from strangers?” Peter said to him, “From strangers.” Jesus said to him, “Therefore the children are exempt. But, lest we cause them to stumble, go to the sea, cast a hook, and take up the first fish that comes up. When you have opened its mouth, you will find a stater coin. Take that, and give it to them for me and you.”
  • Mark 12:14-17 When they had come, they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you are honest, and don’t defer to anyone; for you aren’t partial to anyone, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give?” But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test me? Bring me a denarius, that I may see it.” They brought it. He said to them, “Whose is this image and inscription?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” Jesus answered them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” They marveled greatly at him.
  • 1 Chronicles 18:14 David reigned over all Israel; and he executed justice and righteousness for all his people.
  • Exodus 18:13-27 On the next day, Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from the morning to the evening. When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, “What is this thing that you do for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning to evening?” Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a matter, they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make them know the statutes of God, and his laws.” Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good. You will surely wear away, both you, and this people that is with you; for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to perform it yourself alone. Listen now to my voice. I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You represent the people before God, and bring the causes to God. You shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and shall show them the way in which they must walk, and the work that they must do. Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men which fear God: men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. Let them judge the people at all times. It shall be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge themselves. So shall it be easier for you, and they shall share the load with you. If you will do this thing, and God commands you so, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place in peace.” So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said. Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. They judged the people at all times. They brought the hard cases to Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves. Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way into his own land.
  • Deuteronomy 1:9-17 I spoke to you at that time, saying, “I am not able to bear you myself alone. Yahweh your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as the stars of the sky for multitude. Yahweh, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you! How can I myself alone bear your problems, your burdens, and your strife? Take wise men of understanding who are respected among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.” You answered me, and said, “The thing which you have spoken is good to do.” So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and respected men, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, captains of hundreds, captains of fifties, captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes. I commanded your judges at that time, saying, “Hear cases between your brothers and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the foreigner who is living with him. You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.”
  • 2 Samuel 8:5 When the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck twenty two thousand men of the Syrians.
  • Ezra 4:13 Be it known now to the king that if this city is built and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and in the end it will be hurtful to the kings.
  • Ezra 4:20 There have also been mighty kings over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all the country beyond the River; and tribute, custom, and toll, was paid to them.
  • Ezra 6:8 Moreover I make a decree what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king’s goods, even of the tribute beyond the River, expenses must be given with all diligence to these men, that they not be hindered.
  • Nehemiah 5:4 There were also some who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute using our fields and our vineyards as collateral.
  • Job 29:7-17 when I went out to the city gate, when I prepared my seat in the street. The young men saw me and hid themselves. The aged rose up and stood. The princes refrained from talking, and laid their hand on their mouth. The voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth. For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it commended me: Because I delivered the poor who cried, and the fatherless also, who had no one to help him, the blessing of him who was ready to perish came on me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me. My justice was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy. I researched the cause of him who I didn’t know. I broke the jaws of the unrighteous and plucked the prey out of his teeth.
  • Romans 12:8 or he who exhorts, to his exhorting; he who gives, let him do it with generosity; he who rules, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
  • 1 Samuel 7:16-17 He went from year to year in a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah; and he judged Israel in all those places. His return was to Ramah, for his house was there; and he judged Israel there; and he built an altar to Yahweh there.

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

↑ Top

Explain this verse (19 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 6. For this reason also, etc. He takes occasion…

6. For this reason also, etc. He takes occasion to introduce the subject of tributes, the reason for which he deduces from the office of magistrates; for if it be their duty to defend and safely preserve the peace of the good, and to resist the mischievous attempts of the wicked, this they cannot do unless they are aided by sufficient force. Tributes then are justly paid to support such necessary expenses. But respecting the proportion of taxes or tributes, this is not the place to discuss the subject; nor does it belong to us either to prescribe to princes how much they ought to expend in every affair, or to call them to an account. It yet behooves them to remember, that whatever they receive from the people, is as it were public property, and not to be spent in the gratification of private indulgence. For we see the use for which Paul appoints these tributes which are to be paid — even that kings may be furnished with means to defend their subjects.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He reckoneth up the chiefest things wherein consisteth the…
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 6 For for this cause pay ye tribute also:…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain For this cause, i.e. in token, or in testimony,…
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain From the duty of subjection unto magistrates, the apostle…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For, for this cause pay you tribute also,.... To…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain For this cause - Because they are the ministers…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. For this cause pay ye tribute also]…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Rom 13:6. For this cause pay ye tribute also…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For this cause - Because they are appointed by…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain For, for this cause pay ye--rather, "ye pay"
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 6. For this cause—From the fact that government is…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 6. The passage assumes, of course, that where human…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (6) Ministers.—The words thus translated here and in Rom_13:4…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain For for this cause ye pay (so, rather than,…
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 6, 7. For this cause pay ye tribute also.…
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain For [epexigetic, introducing a detail or illustrative fact proving…
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Because of this
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 13:6 Pay your taxes: Jesus referred to paying taxes…

↑ Top

Share