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.

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 ^tan apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and ^utheir knowledge of the truth, ^vwhich accords with godliness, 2 ^win hope of eternal life, which God, ^xwho never lies, ^ypromised ^zbefore the ages began ▼

▼Greek before times eternal

3and ^abat the proper time manifested in his word ^acthrough the preaching ^adwith which I have been entrusted ^aeby the command of God our Savior;

4To Titus, ^afmy true child in ^aga common faith:

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

Qualifications for Elders

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

▼Or bishop; Greek episkopos

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

▼Or healthy; also verse 13

doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

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

▼Or  especially those of the circumcision

11They must be silenced, since ^azthey are upsetting whole families by teaching ^bafor shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 ^bbOne 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 ^berebuke them ^bfsharply, that they ^bgmay be sound in the faith, 14 ^bhnot devoting themselves to Jewish myths and ^bithe commands of people ^bjwho turn away from the truth. 15 ^bkTo the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and ^blunbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^bmtheir minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 ^bnThey profess to know God, but they ^bodeny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^bpunfit for any good work.

Titus 2

Teach Sound Doctrine

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

▼Or healthy; also verses 2, 8

doctrine. 2Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, ^bssound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 ^btOlder women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, ^bunot slanderers ^bvor 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, ^bwpure, ^bxworking at home, kind, and ^bysubmissive to their own husbands, ^bzthat the word of God may not be reviled. 6Likewise, urge ^cathe younger men to be self-controlled. 7Show yourself in all respects to be ^cba model of good works, and in your teaching ^ccshow integrity, ^cddignity, 8and ^cesound speech that cannot be condemned, ^cfso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 ^cgBondservants ▼

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

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

11For ^clthe grace of God ^cmhas appeared, bringing salvation ^cnfor all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and ^coworldly passions, and ^cpto live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in ^cqthe present age, 13 ^crwaiting for our blessed ^cshope, the ^ctappearing of the glory of our great ^cuGod and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 ^cvwho gave himself for us to ^cwredeem us from all lawlessness and ^cxto purify for himself ^cya people for his own possession who are ^czzealous for good works.

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

Titus 3

Be Ready for Every Good Work

1Remind them ^dcto be submissive to rulers and authorities, ^ddto be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 ^deto speak evil of no one, ^dfto avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and ^dgto show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3For ^dhwe 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 ^dithe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, ^djnot because of works done by us in righteousness, but ^dkaccording to his own mercy, by ^dlthe washing of regeneration and ^dmrenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6whom he ^dnpoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that ^dobeing justified by his grace we might become ^dpheirs ^dqaccording to the hope of eternal life. 8The saying is ^drtrustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful ^dsto devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9But ^dtavoid foolish ^ducontroversies, ^dvgenealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for ^dwthey are unprofitable and worthless. 10As for a person who stirs up division, ^dxafter warning him once and then twice, ^dyhave 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 ^dzTychicus to you, do your best to come to me ^eaat Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and ^ebApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14And let our people learn ^ecto devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not ^edbe unfruitful.

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

^eeGrace be with you all.