1 Samuel 14:47

Saul Fights Israel’s Enemies

47When Saul had taken the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, ^aagainst the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of ^bZobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned he routed them.

2 Samuel 10:6

6When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, the Ammonites sent and hired the Syrians of ^cBeth-rehob, and ^dthe Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of ^eMaacah with 1,000 men, and the men of ^fTob, 12,000 men.

1 Kings 11:23-24

23God also raised up as an adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master ^gHadadezer king of Zobah. 24And he gathered men about him and became leader of a marauding band, ^hafter the killing by David. And they went to Damascus and lived there and made him king in Damascus.

Psalms 60:1

He Will Tread Down Our Foes

To the choirmaster: according to ⁱShushan Eduth. A ^jMiktam ▼

▼Probably musical or liturgical terms

of David; ^lfor instruction; when he ^mstrove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.

1 O God, ⁿyou have rejected us, ^obroken our defenses;
you have been angry; ^poh, restore us.

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 ^ran apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and ^stheir knowledge of the truth, ^twhich accords with godliness, 2 ^uin hope of eternal life, which God, ^vwho never lies, ^wpromised ^xbefore the ages began ▼

▼Greek before times eternal

3and ^zat the proper time manifested in his word ^aathrough the preaching ^abwith which I have been entrusted ^acby the command of God our Savior;

4To Titus, ^admy true child in ^aea common faith:

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

Qualifications for Elders

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

▼Or bishop; Greek episkopos

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

▼Or healthy; also verse 13

doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

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

▼Or  especially those of the circumcision

11They must be silenced, since ^axthey are upsetting whole families by teaching ^ayfor shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 ^azOne 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 ^bcrebuke them ^bdsharply, that they ^bemay be sound in the faith, 14 ^bfnot devoting themselves to Jewish myths and ^bgthe commands of people ^bhwho turn away from the truth. 15 ^biTo the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and ^bjunbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^bktheir minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 ^blThey profess to know God, but they ^bmdeny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^bnunfit for any good work.

Titus 2

Teach Sound Doctrine

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

▼Or healthy; also verses 2, 8

doctrine. 2Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, ^bqsound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 ^brOlder women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, ^bsnot slanderers ^btor 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, ^bupure, ^bvworking at home, kind, and ^bwsubmissive to their own husbands, ^bxthat the word of God may not be reviled. 6Likewise, urge ^bythe younger men to be self-controlled. 7Show yourself in all respects to be ^bza model of good works, and in your teaching ^cashow integrity, ^cbdignity, 8and ^ccsound speech that cannot be condemned, ^cdso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 ^ceBondservants ▼

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

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

11For ^cjthe grace of God ^ckhas appeared, bringing salvation ^clfor all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and ^cmworldly passions, and ^cnto live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in ^cothe present age, 13 ^cpwaiting for our blessed ^cqhope, the ^crappearing of the glory of our great ^csGod and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 ^ctwho gave himself for us to ^curedeem us from all lawlessness and ^cvto purify for himself ^cwa people for his own possession who are ^cxzealous for good works.

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

Titus 3

Be Ready for Every Good Work

1Remind them ^dato be submissive to rulers and authorities, ^dbto be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 ^dcto speak evil of no one, ^ddto avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and ^deto show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3For ^dfwe 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 ^dgthe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, ^dhnot because of works done by us in righteousness, but ^diaccording to his own mercy, by ^djthe washing of regeneration and ^dkrenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6whom he ^dlpoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that ^dmbeing justified by his grace we might become ^dnheirs ^doaccording to the hope of eternal life. 8The saying is ^dptrustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful ^dqto devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9But ^dravoid foolish ^dscontroversies, ^dtgenealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for ^duthey are unprofitable and worthless. 10As for a person who stirs up division, ^dvafter warning him once and then twice, ^dwhave 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 ^dxTychicus to you, do your best to come to me ^dyat Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and ^dzApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14And let our people learn ^eato devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not ^ebbe unfruitful.

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

^ecGrace be with you all.