Psa 127
 
bc[See ver. 1 above]

Psalms 127:1

Unless the Lord Builds the House

A Song of aAscents. Of Solomon.

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

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 dan apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and etheir knowledge of the truth, fwhich accords with godliness,
2 gin hope of eternal life, which God, hwho never lies, ipromised jbefore the ages began
Greek before times eternal
3and lat the proper time manifested in his word mthrough the preaching nwith which I have been entrusted oby the command of God our Savior;

4To Titus, pmy true child in qa common faith:

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

Qualifications for Elders

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

10For there are many who are insubordinate, agempty talkers and deceivers, especially those of ahthe circumcision party.
Or  especially those of the circumcision
11They must be silenced, since ajthey are upsetting whole families by teaching akfor shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 alOne 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 aorebuke them apsharply, that they aqmay be sound in the faith, 14 arnot devoting themselves to Jewish myths and asthe commands of people atwho turn away from the truth. 15 auTo the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and avunbelieving, nothing is pure; but both awtheir minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 axThey profess to know God, but they aydeny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, azunfit for any good work.

Titus 2

Teach Sound Doctrine

1But as for you, teach what accords with basound
Or healthy; also verses 2, 8
doctrine.
2Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, bcsound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 bdOlder women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, benot slanderers bfor 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, bgpure, bhworking at home, kind, and bisubmissive to their own husbands, bjthat the word of God may not be reviled. 6Likewise, urge bkthe younger men to be self-controlled. 7Show yourself in all respects to be bla model of good works, and in your teaching bmshow integrity, bndignity, 8and bosound speech that cannot be condemned, bpso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 bqBondservants
Or Slaves (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)
are to be submissive to their own masters bsin everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative,
10not pilfering, btbut showing all good faith, buso that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

11For bvthe grace of God bwhas appeared, bringing salvation bxfor all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and byworldly passions, and bzto live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in cathe present age, 13 cbwaiting for our blessed cchope, the cdappearing of the glory of our great ceGod and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 cfwho gave himself for us to cgredeem us from all lawlessness and chto purify for himself cia people for his own possession who are cjzealous for good works.

15Declare these things; exhort and ckrebuke with all authority. clLet no one disregard you.

Titus 3

Be Ready for Every Good Work

1Remind them cmto be submissive to rulers and authorities, cnto be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 coto speak evil of no one, cpto avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and cqto show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3For crwe 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 csthe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, ctnot because of works done by us in righteousness, but cuaccording to his own mercy, by cvthe washing of regeneration and cwrenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6whom he cxpoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that cybeing justified by his grace we might become czheirs daaccording to the hope of eternal life. 8The saying is dbtrustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful dcto devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9But ddavoid foolish decontroversies, dfgenealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for dgthey are unprofitable and worthless. 10As for a person who stirs up division, dhafter warning him once and then twice, dihave 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 djTychicus to you, do your best to come to me dkat Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and dlApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14And let our people learn dmto devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not dnbe unfruitful.

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

doGrace be with you all.

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