Part 13

012:017 Pay back to no man evil for evil. Take thought for what is right and seemly in every one's esteem.

012:018 If you can, so far as it depends on you, live at peace with all the world.

012:019 Do not be revengeful, my dear friends, but give way before anger; for it is written, "`Revenge belongs to Me: I will pay back,' says the Lord."

012:020 On the contrary, therefore, if your enemy is hungry, give him food; if he is thirsty, quench his thirst. For by doing this you will be heaping burning coals upon his head.

012:021 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome the evil with goodness.

013:001 Let every individual be obedient to those who rule over him; for no one is a ruler except by God's permission, and our present rulers have had their rank and power assigned to them by Him.

013:002 Therefore the man who rebels against his ruler is resisting God's will; and those who thus resist will bring punishment upon themselves.

013:003 For judges and magistrates are to be feared not by right-doers but by wrong-doers. You desire--do you not?--to have no reason to fear your ruler. Well, do the thing that is right, and then he will commend you.

013:004 For he is God's servant for your benefit. But if you do what is wrong, be afraid. He does not wear the sword to no purpose: he is God's servant--an administrator to inflict punishment upon evil-doers.

013:005 We must obey therefore, not only in order to escape punishment, but also for conscience' sake.

013:006 Why, this is really the reason you pay taxes; for tax-gatherers are ministers of God, devoting their energies to this very work.

013:007 Pay promptly to all men what is due to them: taxes to those to whom taxes are due, toll to those to whom toll is due, respect to those to whom respect is due, honour to those to whom honour is due.

013:008 Owe nothing to any one except mutual love; for he who loves his fellow man has satisfied the demands of Law.

013:009 For the precepts, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," "Thou shalt do no murder," "Thou shalt not steal," "Thou shalt not covet," and all other precepts, are summed up in this one command, "Thou shalt love thy fellow man as much as thou lovest thyself."

013:010 Love avoids doing any wrong to one's fellow man, and is therefore complete obedience to Law.

013:011 Carry out these injunctions because you know the critical period at which we are living, and that it is now high time, to rouse yourselves from sleep; for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first became believers.

013:012 The night is far advanced, and day is about to dawn. We must therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness, and clothe ourselves with the armour of Light.

013:013 Living as we do in broad daylight, let us conduct ourselves becomingly, not indulging in revelry and drunkenness, nor in lust and debauchery, nor in quarrelling and jealousy.

013:014 On the contrary, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for gratifying your earthly cravings.

014:001 I now pass to another subject. Receive as a friend a man whose faith is weak, but not for the purpose of deciding mere matters of opinion.

014:002 One man's faith allows him to eat anything, while a man of weaker faith eats nothing but vegetables.

014:003 Let not him who eats certain food look down upon him who abstains from it, nor him who abstains from it find fault with him who eats it; for God has received both of them.

014:004 Who are you that you should find fault with the servant of another? Whether he stands or falls is a matter which concerns his own master. But stand he will; for the Master can give him power to stand.

014:005 One man esteems one day more highly than another; another esteems all days alike. Let every one be thoroughly convinced in his own mind.

014:006 He who regards the day as sacred, so regards it for the Master's sake; and he who eats certain food eats it for the Master's sake, for he gives thanks to God; and he who refrains from eating it refrains for the Master's sake, and he also gives thanks to God.

014:007 For not one of us lives to himself, and not one dies to himself.

014:008 If we live, we live to the Lord: if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

014:009 For this was the purpose of Christ's dying and coming to life-- namely that He might be Lord both of the dead and the living.