Psa 120
 
bb[See ver. 1 above]

Psalms 120:1

Deliver Me, O Lord

A Song of aAscents.

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

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 can apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and dtheir knowledge of the truth, ewhich accords with godliness,
2 fin hope of eternal life, which God, gwho never lies, hpromised ibefore the ages began
Greek before times eternal
3and kat the proper time manifested in his word lthrough the preaching mwith which I have been entrusted nby the command of God our Savior;

4To Titus, omy true child in pa common faith:

qGrace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications for Elders

5 rThis is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and sappoint elders in every town as I directed you 6 tif 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 wdebauchery or insubordination.
7For an overseer,
Or bishop; Greek episkopos
yas God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not zbe arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent aaor greedy for gain,
8but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, aband disciplined. 9He must achold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in adsound
Or healthy; also verse 13
doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

10For there are many who are insubordinate, afempty talkers and deceivers, especially those of agthe circumcision party.
Or  especially those of the circumcision
11They must be silenced, since aithey are upsetting whole families by teaching ajfor shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 akOne 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 anrebuke them aosharply, that they apmay be sound in the faith, 14 aqnot devoting themselves to Jewish myths and arthe commands of people aswho turn away from the truth. 15 atTo the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and auunbelieving, nothing is pure; but both avtheir minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 awThey profess to know God, but they axdeny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ayunfit for any good work.

Titus 2

Teach Sound Doctrine

1But as for you, teach what accords with azsound
Or healthy; also verses 2, 8
doctrine.
2Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, bbsound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 bcOlder women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, bdnot slanderers beor 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, bfpure, bgworking at home, kind, and bhsubmissive to their own husbands, bithat the word of God may not be reviled. 6Likewise, urge bjthe younger men to be self-controlled. 7Show yourself in all respects to be bka model of good works, and in your teaching blshow integrity, bmdignity, 8and bnsound speech that cannot be condemned, boso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 bpBondservants
Or Slaves (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)
are to be submissive to their own masters brin everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative,
10not pilfering, bsbut showing all good faith, btso that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

11For buthe grace of God bvhas appeared, bringing salvation bwfor all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and bxworldly passions, and byto live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in bzthe present age, 13 cawaiting for our blessed cbhope, the ccappearing of the glory of our great cdGod and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 cewho gave himself for us to cfredeem us from all lawlessness and cgto purify for himself cha people for his own possession who are cizealous for good works.

15Declare these things; exhort and cjrebuke with all authority. ckLet no one disregard you.

Titus 3

Be Ready for Every Good Work

1Remind them clto be submissive to rulers and authorities, cmto be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 cnto speak evil of no one, coto avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and cpto show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3For cqwe 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 crthe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, csnot because of works done by us in righteousness, but ctaccording to his own mercy, by cuthe washing of regeneration and cvrenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6whom he cwpoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that cxbeing justified by his grace we might become cyheirs czaccording to the hope of eternal life. 8The saying is datrustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful dbto devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9But dcavoid foolish ddcontroversies, degenealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for dfthey are unprofitable and worthless. 10As for a person who stirs up division, dgafter warning him once and then twice, dhhave 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 diTychicus to you, do your best to come to me djat Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and dkApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14And let our people learn dlto devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not dmbe unfruitful.

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

dnGrace be with you all.

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