Romans 13:4-6

Easy-to-Read Version

⁴ Rulers are God’s servants to help you. But if you do wrong, you have reason to be afraid. They have the power to punish, and they will use it. They are God’s servants to punish those who do wrong. ⁵ So you must obey the government, not just because you might be punished, but because you know it is the right thing to do.

⁶ And this is why you pay taxes too. Those rulers are working for God, and they give all their time to the work of ruling.