1Sa 26:10, 31:1-6, 2Sa 22:1, 38-41, Psa 18:1, Tit | ESV | STEP | And David said , As the Lord lives , the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die , or he will go down into battle and perish .

1 ^eNow the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain ^fon Mount Gilboa. 2 And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down ^gJonathan and ^hAbinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 3 ⁱThe battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers. 4 ^jThen Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these ^kuncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, ^lfor he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword ^mand fell upon it. 5 And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him. 6 Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together.

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 22:38-41

38 I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,
and did not turn back until they were consumed.
39 I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise;
they fell ^ounder my feet.
40 For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
you made ^pthose who rise against me sink under me.
41 You ^qmade my enemies turn their backs to me, ^{▼▼Or You gave me my enemies’ necks}
those who hated me, and I destroyed them.

Psalms 18:1

The Lord Is My Rock and My Fortress

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, ^sthe servant of the Lord, ^twho addressed the words of this ^usong 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 ^wan apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and ^xtheir knowledge of the truth, ^ywhich accords with godliness, 2 ^zin hope of eternal life, which God, ^aawho never lies, ^abpromised ^acbefore the ages began ^{▼▼Greek before times eternal} 3 and ^aeat the proper time manifested in his word ^afthrough the preaching ^agwith which I have been entrusted ^ahby the command of God our Savior;

4 To Titus, ^aimy true child in ^aja common faith:

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

Qualifications for Elders

5 ^alThis is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and ^amappoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6 ^anif 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 ^aqdebauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer, ^{▼▼Or bishop; Greek episkopos} ^asas God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not ^atbe arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent ^auor greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, ^avand disciplined. 9 He must ^awhold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in ^axsound ^{▼▼Or healthy; also verse 13} doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

10 For there are many who are insubordinate, ^azempty talkers and deceivers, especially those of ^bathe circumcision party. ^{▼▼Or especially those of the circumcision} 11 They must be silenced, since ^bcthey are upsetting whole families by teaching ^bdfor shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 ^beOne 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 ^bhrebuke them ^bisharply, that they ^bjmay be sound in the faith, 14 ^bknot devoting themselves to Jewish myths and ^blthe commands of people ^bmwho turn away from the truth. 15 ^bnTo the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and ^bounbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^bptheir minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 ^bqThey profess to know God, but they ^brdeny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^bsunfit for any good work.

Titus 2

Teach Sound Doctrine

1 But as for you, teach what accords with ^btsound ^{▼▼Or healthy; also verses 2, 8} doctrine. 2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, ^bvsound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 ^bwOlder women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, ^bxnot slanderers ^byor 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, ^bzpure, ^caworking at home, kind, and ^cbsubmissive to their own husbands, ^ccthat the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise, urge ^cdthe younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be ^cea model of good works, and in your teaching ^cfshow integrity, ^cgdignity, 8 and ^chsound speech that cannot be condemned, ^ciso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 ^cjBondservants ^{▼▼Or Slaves (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)} are to be submissive to their own masters ^clin everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, ^cmbut showing all good faith, ^cnso that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

11 For ^cothe grace of God ^cphas appeared, bringing salvation ^cqfor all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and ^crworldly passions, and ^csto live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in ^ctthe present age, 13 ^cuwaiting for our blessed ^cvhope, the ^cwappearing of the glory of our great ^cxGod and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 ^cywho gave himself for us to ^czredeem us from all lawlessness and ^dato purify for himself ^dba people for his own possession who are ^dczealous for good works.

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

Titus 3

Be Ready for Every Good Work

1 Remind them ^dfto be submissive to rulers and authorities, ^dgto be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 ^dhto speak evil of no one, ^dito avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and ^djto show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For ^dkwe 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 ^dlthe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, ^dmnot because of works done by us in righteousness, but ^dnaccording to his own mercy, by ^dothe washing of regeneration and ^dprenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he ^dqpoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that ^drbeing justified by his grace we might become ^dsheirs ^dtaccording to the hope of eternal life. 8 The saying is ^dutrustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful ^dvto devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9 But ^dwavoid foolish ^dxcontroversies, ^dygenealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for ^dzthey are unprofitable and worthless. 10 As for a person who stirs up division, ^eaafter warning him once and then twice, ^ebhave 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 ^ecTychicus to you, do your best to come to me ^edat Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13 Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and ^eeApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14 And let our people learn ^efto devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not ^egbe unfruitful.

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

^ehGrace be with you all.

1 Samuel 26:10

1 Samuel 31:1-6

The Death of Saul