Psalms 121:1

My Help Comes from the Lord

A Song of ^aAscents.

1 I ^blift up my eyes to ^cthe hills.
From where does my help come?

Psalms 122:1

Let Us Go to the House of the Lord

A Song of ^dAscents. Of David.

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

Psalms 123:1

Our Eyes Look to the Lord Our God

A Song of ^fAscents.

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

Psalms 124:1

Our Help Is in the Name of the Lord

A Song of ⁱAscents. Of David.

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

Psalms 125:1

The Lord Surrounds His People

A Song of ^lAscents.

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

Psalms 126:1

Restore Our Fortunes, O Lord

A Song of ^oAscents.

1 When the Lord ^prestored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who ^qdream.

Psalms 127:1

Unless the Lord Builds the House

A Song of ^rAscents. Of Solomon.

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

Psalms 128:1

Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears the Lord

A Song of ^tAscents.

1 ^uBlessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
who ^vwalks 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 ^xan apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and ^ytheir knowledge of the truth, ^zwhich accords with godliness, 2 ^aain hope of eternal life, which God, ^abwho never lies, ^acpromised ^adbefore the ages began ▼

▼Greek before times eternal

3and ^afat the proper time manifested in his word ^agthrough the preaching ^ahwith which I have been entrusted ^aiby the command of God our Savior;

4To Titus, ^ajmy true child in ^aka common faith:

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

Qualifications for Elders

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

▼Or bishop; Greek episkopos

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

▼Or healthy; also verse 13

doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

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

▼Or  especially those of the circumcision

11They must be silenced, since ^bdthey are upsetting whole families by teaching ^befor shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 ^bfOne 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 ^birebuke them ^bjsharply, that they ^bkmay be sound in the faith, 14 ^blnot devoting themselves to Jewish myths and ^bmthe commands of people ^bnwho turn away from the truth. 15 ^boTo the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and ^bpunbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^bqtheir minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 ^brThey profess to know God, but they ^bsdeny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^btunfit for any good work.

Titus 2

Teach Sound Doctrine

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

▼Or healthy; also verses 2, 8

doctrine. 2Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, ^bwsound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 ^bxOlder women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, ^bynot slanderers ^bzor 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, ^capure, ^cbworking at home, kind, and ^ccsubmissive to their own husbands, ^cdthat the word of God may not be reviled. 6Likewise, urge ^cethe younger men to be self-controlled. 7Show yourself in all respects to be ^cfa model of good works, and in your teaching ^cgshow integrity, ^chdignity, 8and ^cisound speech that cannot be condemned, ^cjso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 ^ckBondservants ▼

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

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

11For ^cpthe grace of God ^cqhas appeared, bringing salvation ^crfor all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and ^csworldly passions, and ^ctto live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in ^cuthe present age, 13 ^cvwaiting for our blessed ^cwhope, the ^cxappearing of the glory of our great ^cyGod and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 ^czwho gave himself for us to ^daredeem us from all lawlessness and ^dbto purify for himself ^dca people for his own possession who are ^ddzealous for good works.

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

Titus 3

Be Ready for Every Good Work

1Remind them ^dgto be submissive to rulers and authorities, ^dhto be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 ^dito speak evil of no one, ^djto avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and ^dkto show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3For ^dlwe 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 ^dmthe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, ^dnnot because of works done by us in righteousness, but ^doaccording to his own mercy, by ^dpthe washing of regeneration and ^dqrenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6whom he ^drpoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that ^dsbeing justified by his grace we might become ^dtheirs ^duaccording to the hope of eternal life. 8The saying is ^dvtrustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful ^dwto devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9But ^dxavoid foolish ^dycontroversies, ^dzgenealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for ^eathey are unprofitable and worthless. 10As for a person who stirs up division, ^ebafter warning him once and then twice, ^echave 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 ^edTychicus to you, do your best to come to me ^eeat Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and ^efApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14And let our people learn ^egto devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not ^ehbe unfruitful.

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

^eiGrace be with you all.