1 Chronicles 16:41-42

41With them were ^aHeman and Jeduthun ^band the rest of those chosen and ^cexpressly named to give thanks to the Lord, ^dfor his steadfast love endures forever. 42Heman and Jeduthun had trumpets and cymbals for the music and instruments ^efor sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were appointed to the gate.

1 Chronicles 23:5

54,000 gatekeepers, and 4,000 shall offer praises to the Lord with the instruments ^fthat I have made for praise.”

1 Chronicles 25:1-7

David Organizes the Musicians

1David and the chiefs of the service also set apart for the service the sons of ^gAsaph, and of ^hHeman, and of ⁱJeduthun, who ^jprophesied with lyres, with ^kharps, and with cymbals. The list of those who did the work and of their duties was: 2Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah, sons of Asaph, under the direction of Asaph, who ^lprophesied under the direction of the king. 3Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, ▼

▼One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts lack  Shimei

Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the direction of their father Jeduthun, ⁿwho prophesied with the lyre in thanksgiving and praise to the Lord. 4Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Mahazioth. 5All these were the sons of Heman ^othe king’s seer, according to the promise of God to exalt him, for God had given Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. 6They were all under the direction of their father in the music in the house of the Lord with cymbals, ^pharps, and lyres for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the order of the king. 7The number of them along with their brothers, who were trained in singing to the Lord, all who were skillful, was ^q288.

2 Chronicles 29:25-26

25 ^rAnd he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres, ^saccording to the commandment of David and of Gad ^tthe king’s seer and of ^uNathan the prophet, for the commandment was from the Lord through his prophets. 26The Levites stood with ^vthe instruments of David, ^wand the priests with the trumpets.

Psalms 77:1

In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord

To the choirmaster: according to ^xJeduthun. A Psalm of ^yAsaph.

1 I ^zcry aloud to God,
aloud to God, and he will hear me.

Psalms 78:1

Tell the Coming Generation

A Maskil ▼

▼Probably a musical or liturgical term

of ^abAsaph.

1 ^acGive ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!

Psalms 79:1

How Long, O Lord?

A Psalm of ^adAsaph.

1 O God, ^aethe nations have come into your ^afinheritance;
they have defiled your ^agholy temple;
they have ^ahlaid Jerusalem in ruins.

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

1Paul, a servant ▼

▼Or slave (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)

of God and ^ajan apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and ^aktheir knowledge of the truth, ^alwhich accords with godliness, 2 ^amin hope of eternal life, which God, ^anwho never lies, ^aopromised ^apbefore the ages began ▼

▼Greek before times eternal

3and ^arat the proper time manifested in his word ^asthrough the preaching ^atwith which I have been entrusted ^auby the command of God our Savior;

4To Titus, ^avmy true child in ^awa common faith:

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

Qualifications for Elders

5 ^ayThis is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and ^azappoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6 ^baif 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 ^bddebauchery or insubordination. 7For an overseer, ▼

▼Or bishop; Greek episkopos

^bfas God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not ^bgbe arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent ^bhor greedy for gain, 8but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, ^biand disciplined. 9He must ^bjhold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in ^bksound ▼

▼Or healthy; also verse 13

doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

10For there are many who are insubordinate, ^bmempty talkers and deceivers, especially those of ^bnthe circumcision party. ▼

▼Or  especially those of the circumcision

11They must be silenced, since ^bpthey are upsetting whole families by teaching ^bqfor shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 ^brOne 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

13This testimony is true. Therefore ^burebuke them ^bvsharply, that they ^bwmay be sound in the faith, 14 ^bxnot devoting themselves to Jewish myths and ^bythe commands of people ^bzwho turn away from the truth. 15 ^caTo the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and ^cbunbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^cctheir minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 ^cdThey profess to know God, but they ^cedeny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^cfunfit for any good work.

Titus 2

Teach Sound Doctrine

1But as for you, teach what accords with ^cgsound ▼

▼Or healthy; also verses 2, 8

doctrine. 2Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, ^cisound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 ^cjOlder women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, ^cknot slanderers ^clor slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5to be self-controlled, ^cmpure, ^cnworking at home, kind, and ^cosubmissive to their own husbands, ^cpthat the word of God may not be reviled. 6Likewise, urge ^cqthe younger men to be self-controlled. 7Show yourself in all respects to be ^cra model of good works, and in your teaching ^csshow integrity, ^ctdignity, 8and ^cusound speech that cannot be condemned, ^cvso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 ^cwBondservants ▼

▼Or Slaves (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)

are to be submissive to their own masters ^cyin everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10not pilfering, ^czbut showing all good faith, ^daso that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

11For ^dbthe grace of God ^dchas appeared, bringing salvation ^ddfor all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and ^deworldly passions, and ^dfto live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in ^dgthe present age, 13 ^dhwaiting for our blessed ^dihope, the ^djappearing of the glory of our great ^dkGod and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 ^dlwho gave himself for us to ^dmredeem us from all lawlessness and ^dnto purify for himself ^doa people for his own possession who are ^dpzealous for good works.

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

Titus 3

Be Ready for Every Good Work

1Remind them ^dsto be submissive to rulers and authorities, ^dtto be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 ^duto speak evil of no one, ^dvto avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and ^dwto show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3For ^dxwe 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. 4But when ^dythe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, ^dznot because of works done by us in righteousness, but ^eaaccording to his own mercy, by ^ebthe washing of regeneration and ^ecrenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6whom he ^edpoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that ^eebeing justified by his grace we might become ^efheirs ^egaccording to the hope of eternal life. 8The saying is ^ehtrustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful ^eito devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9But ^ejavoid foolish ^ekcontroversies, ^elgenealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for ^emthey are unprofitable and worthless. 10As for a person who stirs up division, ^enafter warning him once and then twice, ^eohave nothing more to do with him, 11knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

Final Instructions and Greetings

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

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

^euGrace be with you all.