Psalms 120:1

Deliver Me, O Lord

A Song of ^aAscents.

1 In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.

Psalms 121:1

My Help Comes from the Lord

A Song of ^bAscents.

1 I ^clift up my eyes to ^dthe hills.
From where does my help come?

Psalms 122:1

Let Us Go to the House of the Lord

A Song of ^eAscents. Of David.

1 I was glad when they said to me,
^f“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”

Psalms 123:1

Our Eyes Look to the Lord Our God

A Song of ^gAscents.

1 To you I ^hlift up my eyes,
O you who are ⁱenthroned in the heavens!

Psalms 124:1

Our Help Is in the Name of the Lord

A Song of ^jAscents. Of David.

1 ^kIf it had not been the Lord who was on our side—
^llet Israel now say—

Psalms 125:1

The Lord Surrounds His People

A Song of ^mAscents.

1 Those who ⁿtrust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which ^ocannot be moved, but abides forever.

Psalms 126:1

Restore Our Fortunes, O Lord

A Song of ^pAscents.

1 When the Lord ^qrestored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who ^rdream.

Psalms 127:1

Unless the Lord Builds the House

A Song of ^sAscents. Of Solomon.

1 Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord ^twatches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.

Psalms 128:1

Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears the Lord

A Song of ^uAscents.

1 ^vBlessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
who ^wwalks in his ways!

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 ^yan apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and ^ztheir knowledge of the truth, ^aawhich accords with godliness, 2 ^abin hope of eternal life, which God, ^acwho never lies, ^adpromised ^aebefore the ages began ▼

▼Greek before times eternal

3and ^agat the proper time manifested in his word ^ahthrough the preaching ^aiwith which I have been entrusted ^ajby the command of God our Savior;

4To Titus, ^akmy true child in ^ala common faith:

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

Qualifications for Elders

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

▼Or bishop; Greek episkopos

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

▼Or healthy; also verse 13

doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

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

▼Or  especially those of the circumcision

11They must be silenced, since ^bethey are upsetting whole families by teaching ^bffor shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 ^bgOne 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 ^bjrebuke them ^bksharply, that they ^blmay be sound in the faith, 14 ^bmnot devoting themselves to Jewish myths and ^bnthe commands of people ^bowho turn away from the truth. 15 ^bpTo the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and ^bqunbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^brtheir minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 ^bsThey profess to know God, but they ^btdeny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^buunfit for any good work.

Titus 2

Teach Sound Doctrine

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

▼Or healthy; also verses 2, 8

doctrine. 2Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, ^bxsound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 ^byOlder women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, ^bznot slanderers ^caor 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, ^cbpure, ^ccworking at home, kind, and ^cdsubmissive to their own husbands, ^cethat the word of God may not be reviled. 6Likewise, urge ^cfthe younger men to be self-controlled. 7Show yourself in all respects to be ^cga model of good works, and in your teaching ^chshow integrity, ^cidignity, 8and ^cjsound speech that cannot be condemned, ^ckso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 ^clBondservants ▼

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

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

11For ^cqthe grace of God ^crhas appeared, bringing salvation ^csfor all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and ^ctworldly passions, and ^cuto live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in ^cvthe present age, 13 ^cwwaiting for our blessed ^cxhope, the ^cyappearing of the glory of our great ^czGod and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 ^dawho gave himself for us to ^dbredeem us from all lawlessness and ^dcto purify for himself ^dda people for his own possession who are ^dezealous for good works.

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

Titus 3

Be Ready for Every Good Work

1Remind them ^dhto be submissive to rulers and authorities, ^dito be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 ^djto speak evil of no one, ^dkto avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and ^dlto show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3For ^dmwe 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 ^dnthe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, ^donot because of works done by us in righteousness, but ^dpaccording to his own mercy, by ^dqthe washing of regeneration and ^drrenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6whom he ^dspoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that ^dtbeing justified by his grace we might become ^duheirs ^dvaccording to the hope of eternal life. 8The saying is ^dwtrustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful ^dxto devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9But ^dyavoid foolish ^dzcontroversies, ^eagenealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for ^ebthey are unprofitable and worthless. 10As for a person who stirs up division, ^ecafter warning him once and then twice, ^edhave 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 ^eeTychicus to you, do your best to come to me ^efat Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and ^egApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14And let our people learn ^ehto devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not ^eibe unfruitful.

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

^ejGrace be with you all.