Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for (A)the one who loves [a]his neighbor has fulfilled the Law. For this, “(B)You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “(C)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love [b]does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore (D)love is the fulfillment of the Law.

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 13:8 Lit the other
  2. Romans 13:10 Lit works no evil

[a]Owe nothing to anyone except to [b]love and seek the best for one another; for he who [unselfishly] loves his neighbor has fulfilled the [essence of the] law [relating to one’s fellowman].(A) The commandments, “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 statement: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”(B) 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor [it never hurts anyone]. Therefore [unselfish] love is the fulfillment of the Law.

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 13:8 Debt is generally to be avoided, but Paul probably is addressing debt to individuals with whom one has a personal relationship.
  2. Romans 13:8 The key to understanding this and other statements about love is to know that this love (the Greek word agape) is not so much a matter of emotion as it is of doing things for the benefit of another person, that is, having an unselfish concern for another and a willingness to seek the best for other believers.

Love Fulfills the Law

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.(A) The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”[a](B) and whatever other command there may be, are summed up(C) in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b](D) 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 13:9 Exodus 20:13-15,17; Deut. 5:17-19,21
  2. Romans 13:9 Lev. 19:18

31 Do we then nullify [a]the Law through faith? (A)Far from it! On the contrary, we (B)establish the Law.

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 3:31 Or law

31 Do we then nullify the Law by this faith [making the Law of no effect, overthrowing it]? Certainly not! On the contrary, we confirm and establish and uphold the Law [since it convicts us all of sin, pointing to the need for salvation].

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31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

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