Joshua 15:24

24 ^aZiph, Telem, Bealoth,

1 Samuel 23:14

14And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country ^bof the wilderness of ^cZiph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.

1 Samuel 23:19

19 ^dThen the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of ^eJeshimon?

Psalms 54:1

The Lord Upholds My Life

To the choirmaster: with ^fstringed instruments. A Maskil ▼

▼Probably a musical or liturgical term

of David, ^hwhen the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”

1 O God, save me by your ⁱname,
and vindicate me by your might.

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 ^kan apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and ^ltheir knowledge of the truth, ^mwhich accords with godliness, 2 ⁿin hope of eternal life, which God, ^owho never lies, ^ppromised ^qbefore the ages began ▼

▼Greek before times eternal

3and ^sat the proper time manifested in his word ^tthrough the preaching ^uwith which I have been entrusted ^vby the command of God our Savior;

4To Titus, ^wmy true child in ^xa common faith:

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

Qualifications for Elders

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

▼Or bishop; Greek episkopos

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

▼Or healthy; also verse 13

doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

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

▼Or  especially those of the circumcision

11They must be silenced, since ^aqthey are upsetting whole families by teaching ^arfor shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 ^asOne 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 ^avrebuke them ^awsharply, that they ^axmay be sound in the faith, 14 ^aynot devoting themselves to Jewish myths and ^azthe commands of people ^bawho turn away from the truth. 15 ^bbTo the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and ^bcunbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^bdtheir minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 ^beThey profess to know God, but they ^bfdeny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^bgunfit for any good work.

Titus 2

Teach Sound Doctrine

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

▼Or healthy; also verses 2, 8

doctrine. 2Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, ^bjsound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 ^bkOlder women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, ^blnot slanderers ^bmor 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, ^bnpure, ^boworking at home, kind, and ^bpsubmissive to their own husbands, ^bqthat the word of God may not be reviled. 6Likewise, urge ^brthe younger men to be self-controlled. 7Show yourself in all respects to be ^bsa model of good works, and in your teaching ^btshow integrity, ^budignity, 8and ^bvsound speech that cannot be condemned, ^bwso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 ^bxBondservants ▼

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

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

11For ^ccthe grace of God ^cdhas appeared, bringing salvation ^cefor all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and ^cfworldly passions, and ^cgto live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in ^chthe present age, 13 ^ciwaiting for our blessed ^cjhope, the ^ckappearing of the glory of our great ^clGod and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 ^cmwho gave himself for us to ^cnredeem us from all lawlessness and ^coto purify for himself ^cpa people for his own possession who are ^cqzealous for good works.

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

Titus 3

Be Ready for Every Good Work

1Remind them ^ctto be submissive to rulers and authorities, ^cuto be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 ^cvto speak evil of no one, ^cwto avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and ^cxto show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3For ^cywe 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 ^czthe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, ^danot because of works done by us in righteousness, but ^dbaccording to his own mercy, by ^dcthe washing of regeneration and ^ddrenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6whom he ^depoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that ^dfbeing justified by his grace we might become ^dgheirs ^dhaccording to the hope of eternal life. 8The saying is ^ditrustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful ^djto devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9But ^dkavoid foolish ^dlcontroversies, ^dmgenealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for ^dnthey are unprofitable and worthless. 10As for a person who stirs up division, ^doafter warning him once and then twice, ^dphave 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 ^dqTychicus to you, do your best to come to me ^drat Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and ^dsApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14And let our people learn ^dtto devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not ^dube unfruitful.

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

^dvGrace be with you all.