1Sa 18:11, 21, 19:10-15, 23:7, 14, 26-28, 2Sa 22:1, 49, Psa 18:1, Tit | ESV | STEP | And Saul hurled the spear , for he thought , I will pin David to the wall . But David evaded him twice .

21 Saul thought, “Let me give her to him, that she may ^bbe a snare for him ^cand that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time, ^{▼▼Hebrew by two} ^e“You shall now be my son-in-law.”

1 Samuel 19:10-15

10 ^fAnd Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.

11 ^gSaul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” 12 ^hSo Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped. 13 Michal took ⁱan image ^{▼▼Or a household god} and laid it on the bed and put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head and covered it with the clothes. 14 And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” 15 Then Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.”

1 Samuel 23:7

7 Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.”

1 Samuel 23:14

14 And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country ^kof the wilderness of ^lZiph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.

1 Samuel 23:26-28

26 Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, 27 a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.” 28 So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape. ^{▼▼Or Rock of Divisions}

2 Samuel 22:1

David’s Song of Deliverance

1 And David spoke ⁿto the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.

2 Samuel 22:49

49 who brought me out from my enemies;
you exalted me above ^othose who rose against me;
you delivered me from ^pmen of violence.

Psalms 18:1

The Lord Is My Rock and My Fortress

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, ^qthe servant of the Lord, ^rwho addressed the words of this ^ssong to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:

1 I love you, O Lord, my strength.

This pastoral letter from Paul to Titus was intended to offer encouragement and wisdom as Titus endured ongoing opposition from the ungodly and from legalists within his congregations. Paul instructed Titus to complete his assigned job of establishing overseers (elders) for the churches under his care. He described what sort of people these leaders should be, and how all believers should live in relation to each other as well as in their interactions with nonbelievers. Proper Christian behavior is based on the fact that “the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,” and therefore those who believe in Christ are to “live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives” as they await his return (2:11-13). Paul probably wrote this letter in the 60s a.d.

Titus 1

Greeting

1 Paul, a servant ^{▼▼Or slave (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)} of God and ^uan apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and ^vtheir knowledge of the truth, ^wwhich accords with godliness, 2 ^xin hope of eternal life, which God, ^ywho never lies, ^zpromised ^aabefore the ages began ^{▼▼Greek before times eternal} 3 and ^acat the proper time manifested in his word ^adthrough the preaching ^aewith which I have been entrusted ^afby the command of God our Savior;

4 To Titus, ^agmy true child in ^aha common faith:

^aiGrace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications for Elders

5 ^ajThis is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and ^akappoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6 ^alif anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, ^{▼▼Or a man of one woman} and his children are believers ^{▼▼Or are faithful} and not open to the charge of ^aodebauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer, ^{▼▼Or bishop; Greek episkopos} ^aqas God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not ^arbe arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent ^asor greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, ^atand disciplined. 9 He must ^auhold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in ^avsound ^{▼▼Or healthy; also verse 13} doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

10 For there are many who are insubordinate, ^axempty talkers and deceivers, especially those of ^aythe circumcision party. ^{▼▼Or especially those of the circumcision} 11 They must be silenced, since ^bathey are upsetting whole families by teaching ^bbfor shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 ^bcOne of the Cretans, ^{▼▼Greek One of them} a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” ^{▼▼Probably from Epimenides of Crete} 13 This testimony is true. Therefore ^bfrebuke them ^bgsharply, that they ^bhmay be sound in the faith, 14 ^binot devoting themselves to Jewish myths and ^bjthe commands of people ^bkwho turn away from the truth. 15 ^blTo the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and ^bmunbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^bntheir minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 ^boThey profess to know God, but they ^bpdeny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^bqunfit for any good work.

Titus 2

Teach Sound Doctrine

1 But as for you, teach what accords with ^brsound ^{▼▼Or healthy; also verses 2, 8} doctrine. 2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, ^btsound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 ^buOlder women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, ^bvnot slanderers ^bwor slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, ^bxpure, ^byworking at home, kind, and ^bzsubmissive to their own husbands, ^cathat the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise, urge ^cbthe younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be ^cca model of good works, and in your teaching ^cdshow integrity, ^cedignity, 8 and ^cfsound speech that cannot be condemned, ^cgso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 ^chBondservants ^{▼▼Or Slaves (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)} are to be submissive to their own masters ^cjin everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, ^ckbut showing all good faith, ^clso that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

11 For ^cmthe grace of God ^cnhas appeared, bringing salvation ^cofor all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and ^cpworldly passions, and ^cqto live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in ^crthe present age, 13 ^cswaiting for our blessed ^cthope, the ^cuappearing of the glory of our great ^cvGod and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 ^cwwho gave himself for us to ^cxredeem us from all lawlessness and ^cyto purify for himself ^cza people for his own possession who are ^dazealous for good works.

15 Declare these things; exhort and ^dbrebuke with all authority. ^dcLet no one disregard you.

Titus 3

Be Ready for Every Good Work

1 Remind them ^ddto be submissive to rulers and authorities, ^deto be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 ^dfto speak evil of no one, ^dgto avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and ^dhto show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For ^diwe ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when ^djthe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, ^dknot because of works done by us in righteousness, but ^dlaccording to his own mercy, by ^dmthe washing of regeneration and ^dnrenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he ^dopoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that ^dpbeing justified by his grace we might become ^dqheirs ^draccording to the hope of eternal life. 8 The saying is ^dstrustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful ^dtto devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9 But ^duavoid foolish ^dvcontroversies, ^dwgenealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for ^dxthey are unprofitable and worthless. 10 As for a person who stirs up division, ^dyafter warning him once and then twice, ^dzhave nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

Final Instructions and Greetings

12 When I send Artemas or ^eaTychicus to you, do your best to come to me ^ebat Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13 Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and ^ecApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14 And let our people learn ^edto devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not ^eebe unfruitful.

15 All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith.

^efGrace be with you all.

1 Samuel 18:11

1 Samuel 18:21