2 Samuel 7:13

13 ^aHe shall build a house for my name, and ^bI will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

2 Samuel 8:13-14

13And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in ^cthe Valley of Salt. 14Then he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, ^dand all the Edomites became David’s servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

Psalms 60:1

He Will Tread Down Our Foes

To the choirmaster: according to ^eShushan Eduth. A ^fMiktam ▼

▼Probably musical or liturgical terms

of David; ^hfor instruction; when he ⁱstrove 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, ^jyou have rejected us, ^kbroken our defenses;
you have been angry; ^loh, 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 ⁿan apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and ^otheir knowledge of the truth, ^pwhich accords with godliness, 2 ^qin hope of eternal life, which God, ^rwho never lies, ^spromised ^tbefore the ages began ▼

▼Greek before times eternal

3and ^vat the proper time manifested in his word ^wthrough the preaching ^xwith which I have been entrusted ^yby the command of God our Savior;

4To Titus, ^zmy true child in ^aaa common faith:

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

Qualifications for Elders

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

▼Or bishop; Greek episkopos

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

▼Or healthy; also verse 13

doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

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

▼Or  especially those of the circumcision

11They must be silenced, since ^atthey are upsetting whole families by teaching ^aufor shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 ^avOne 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 ^ayrebuke them ^azsharply, that they ^bamay be sound in the faith, 14 ^bbnot devoting themselves to Jewish myths and ^bcthe commands of people ^bdwho turn away from the truth. 15 ^beTo the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and ^bfunbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^bgtheir minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 ^bhThey profess to know God, but they ^bideny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^bjunfit for any good work.

Titus 2

Teach Sound Doctrine

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

▼Or healthy; also verses 2, 8

doctrine. 2Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, ^bmsound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 ^bnOlder women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, ^bonot slanderers ^bpor 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, ^bqpure, ^brworking at home, kind, and ^bssubmissive to their own husbands, ^btthat the word of God may not be reviled. 6Likewise, urge ^buthe younger men to be self-controlled. 7Show yourself in all respects to be ^bva model of good works, and in your teaching ^bwshow integrity, ^bxdignity, 8and ^bysound speech that cannot be condemned, ^bzso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 ^caBondservants ▼

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

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

11For ^cfthe grace of God ^cghas appeared, bringing salvation ^chfor all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and ^ciworldly passions, and ^cjto live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in ^ckthe present age, 13 ^clwaiting for our blessed ^cmhope, the ^cnappearing of the glory of our great ^coGod and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 ^cpwho gave himself for us to ^cqredeem us from all lawlessness and ^crto purify for himself ^csa people for his own possession who are ^ctzealous for good works.

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

Titus 3

Be Ready for Every Good Work

1Remind them ^cwto be submissive to rulers and authorities, ^cxto be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 ^cyto speak evil of no one, ^czto avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and ^dato show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3For ^dbwe 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 ^dcthe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, ^ddnot because of works done by us in righteousness, but ^deaccording to his own mercy, by ^dfthe washing of regeneration and ^dgrenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6whom he ^dhpoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that ^dibeing justified by his grace we might become ^djheirs ^dkaccording to the hope of eternal life. 8The saying is ^dltrustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful ^dmto devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9But ^dnavoid foolish ^docontroversies, ^dpgenealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for ^dqthey are unprofitable and worthless. 10As for a person who stirs up division, ^drafter warning him once and then twice, ^dshave 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 ^dtTychicus to you, do your best to come to me ^duat Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and ^dvApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14And let our people learn ^dwto devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not ^dxbe unfruitful.

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

^dyGrace be with you all.