² I say:^[a] Keep the king's command, because of ^(A)God's oath to him.^[b]

⁴³ Why then have you not kept your oath to the Lord and the commandment with which I commanded you?”

Be Ready for Every Good Work

3 Remind them ^(A)to be submissive to rulers and authorities, ^(B)to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,

Submission to Authority

^13 (A)Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution,^[a] whether it be to the emperor^[b] as supreme, ¹⁴ or to governors as sent by him ^(B)to punish those who do evil and ^(C)to praise those who do good. ¹⁵ For this is the will of God, ^(D)that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. ^16 (E)Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but ^(F)living as servants^[c] of God. ^17 (G)Honor everyone. ^(H)Love the brotherhood. ^(I)Fear God. Honor the emperor.

Submission to the Authorities

13 Let every person ^(A)be subject to the governing authorities. For ^(B)there 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 ^(C)will receive his approval, ⁴ for ^(D)he 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, ^(E)an 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 ^(F)for the sake of conscience.

^13 (A)And he took one of the royal offspring^{[a] (B)}and made a covenant with him, ^(C)putting him under oath (^(D)the chief men of the land he had taken away), ¹⁴ that the kingdom might be humble and not lift itself up, and keep his covenant that it might stand. ^15 (E)But he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors ^(F)to Egypt, that they might give him horses and a large army. ^(G)Will he thrive? Can one escape who does such things? Can he ^(H)break the covenant and yet escape?

^16 (I)“As I live, declares the Lord God, surely ^(J)in the place where the king dwells ^(K)who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant with him he broke, in Babylon he shall die. ^17 (L)Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in war, ^(M)when mounds are cast up and siege walls built to cut off many lives. ¹⁸ He despised the oath in breaking the covenant, and behold, he gave his hand and did all these things; he shall not escape. ¹⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely it is my oath that he despised, and my covenant that he broke. I will return it upon his head. ^20 (N)I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon ^(O)and enter into judgment with him there ^(P)for the treachery he has committed against me.

²⁴ All the leaders and the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David, pledged their allegiance to King Solomon.

⁷ But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul's son Jonathan, because of ^(A)the oath of the Lord that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.