Psa 70
 
bi[See ver. 1 above]

1 Chronicles 16:8

David’s Song of Thanks

8 aOh give thanks to the Lord; bcall upon his name;
cmake known his deeds among the peoples!

Psalms 37:1

He Will Not Forsake His Saints

This psalm is an acrostic poem, each stanza beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet
Of David.

1 eFret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not fenvious of wrongdoers!

Psalms 70:1

O Lord, Do Not Delay

To the choirmaster. Of David, gfor the memorial offering.

1 hMake haste, O God, to deliver me!
O Lord, make haste to help me!

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 jan apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and ktheir knowledge of the truth, lwhich accords with godliness,
2 min hope of eternal life, which God, nwho never lies, opromised pbefore the ages began
Greek before times eternal
3and rat the proper time manifested in his word sthrough the preaching twith which I have been entrusted uby the command of God our Savior;

4To Titus, vmy true child in wa common faith:

xGrace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications for Elders

5 yThis is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and zappoint elders in every town as I directed you 6 aaif 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 addebauchery or insubordination.
7For an overseer,
Or bishop; Greek episkopos
afas God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not agbe arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent ahor greedy for gain,
8but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, aiand disciplined. 9He must ajhold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in aksound
Or healthy; also verse 13
doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

10For there are many who are insubordinate, amempty talkers and deceivers, especially those of anthe circumcision party.
Or  especially those of the circumcision
11They must be silenced, since apthey are upsetting whole families by teaching aqfor shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 arOne 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 aurebuke them avsharply, that they awmay be sound in the faith, 14 axnot devoting themselves to Jewish myths and aythe commands of people azwho turn away from the truth. 15 baTo the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and bbunbelieving, nothing is pure; but both bctheir minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 bdThey profess to know God, but they bedeny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, bfunfit for any good work.

Titus 2

Teach Sound Doctrine

1But as for you, teach what accords with bgsound
Or healthy; also verses 2, 8
doctrine.
2Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, bisound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 bjOlder women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, bknot slanderers blor 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, bmpure, bnworking at home, kind, and bosubmissive to their own husbands, bpthat the word of God may not be reviled. 6Likewise, urge bqthe younger men to be self-controlled. 7Show yourself in all respects to be bra model of good works, and in your teaching bsshow integrity, btdignity, 8and busound speech that cannot be condemned, bvso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 bwBondservants
Or Slaves (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)
are to be submissive to their own masters byin everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative,
10not pilfering, bzbut showing all good faith, caso that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

11For cbthe grace of God cchas appeared, bringing salvation cdfor all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and ceworldly passions, and cfto live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in cgthe present age, 13 chwaiting for our blessed cihope, the cjappearing of the glory of our great ckGod and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 clwho gave himself for us to cmredeem us from all lawlessness and cnto purify for himself coa people for his own possession who are cpzealous for good works.

15Declare these things; exhort and cqrebuke with all authority. crLet no one disregard you.

Titus 3

Be Ready for Every Good Work

1Remind them csto be submissive to rulers and authorities, ctto be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 cuto speak evil of no one, cvto avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and cwto show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3For cxwe 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 cythe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, cznot because of works done by us in righteousness, but daaccording to his own mercy, by dbthe washing of regeneration and dcrenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6whom he ddpoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that debeing justified by his grace we might become dfheirs dgaccording to the hope of eternal life. 8The saying is dhtrustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful dito devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9But djavoid foolish dkcontroversies, dlgenealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for dmthey are unprofitable and worthless. 10As for a person who stirs up division, dnafter warning him once and then twice, dohave 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 dpTychicus to you, do your best to come to me dqat Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and drApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14And let our people learn dsto devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not dtbe unfruitful.

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

duGrace be with you all.

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