Psalms 27:4

4 ^aOne thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may ^bdwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon ^cthe beauty of the Lord
and to inquire ▼

▼Or meditate

in his temple.

Psalms 42:4

4These things I remember,
as I ^epour out my soul:
^fhow I would go ^gwith the throng
and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
^ha multitude keeping festival.

Psalms 84:2

2My soul ⁱlongs, yes, ^jfaints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to ^kthe living God.

Psalms 84:10

10 For a day ^lin your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be ^ma doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Psalms 92:1-2

How Great Are Your Works

A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath.

1 ⁿIt is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to your name, ^oO Most High;
2to declare your ^psteadfast love in ^qthe morning,
and your ^rfaithfulness by ^snight,

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 ^uan apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and ^vtheir knowledge of the truth, ^wwhich accords with godliness, 2 ^xin hope of eternal life, which God, ^ywho never lies, ^zpromised ^aabefore the ages began ▼

▼Greek before times eternal

3and ^acat the proper time manifested in his word ^adthrough the preaching ^aewith which I have been entrusted ^afby the command of God our Savior;

4To Titus, ^agmy true child in ^aha common faith:

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

Qualifications for Elders

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

▼Or bishop; Greek episkopos

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

▼Or healthy; also verse 13

doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

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

▼Or  especially those of the circumcision

11They must be silenced, since ^bathey are upsetting whole families by teaching ^bbfor shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 ^bcOne 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 ^bfrebuke them ^bgsharply, that they ^bhmay be sound in the faith, 14 ^binot devoting themselves to Jewish myths and ^bjthe commands of people ^bkwho turn away from the truth. 15 ^blTo the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and ^bmunbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^bntheir minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 ^boThey profess to know God, but they ^bpdeny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^bqunfit for any good work.

Titus 2

Teach Sound Doctrine

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

▼Or healthy; also verses 2, 8

doctrine. 2Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, ^btsound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 ^buOlder women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, ^bvnot slanderers ^bwor 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, ^bxpure, ^byworking at home, kind, and ^bzsubmissive to their own husbands, ^cathat the word of God may not be reviled. 6Likewise, urge ^cbthe younger men to be self-controlled. 7Show yourself in all respects to be ^cca model of good works, and in your teaching ^cdshow integrity, ^cedignity, 8and ^cfsound speech that cannot be condemned, ^cgso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 ^chBondservants ▼

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

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

11For ^cmthe grace of God ^cnhas appeared, bringing salvation ^cofor all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and ^cpworldly passions, and ^cqto live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in ^crthe present age, 13 ^cswaiting for our blessed ^cthope, the ^cuappearing of the glory of our great ^cvGod and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 ^cwwho gave himself for us to ^cxredeem us from all lawlessness and ^cyto purify for himself ^cza people for his own possession who are ^dazealous for good works.

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

Titus 3

Be Ready for Every Good Work

1Remind them ^ddto be submissive to rulers and authorities, ^deto be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 ^dfto speak evil of no one, ^dgto avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and ^dhto show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3For ^diwe 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 ^djthe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, ^dknot because of works done by us in righteousness, but ^dlaccording to his own mercy, by ^dmthe washing of regeneration and ^dnrenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6whom he ^dopoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that ^dpbeing justified by his grace we might become ^dqheirs ^draccording to the hope of eternal life. 8The saying is ^dstrustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful ^dtto devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9But ^duavoid foolish ^dvcontroversies, ^dwgenealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for ^dxthey are unprofitable and worthless. 10As for a person who stirs up division, ^dyafter warning him once and then twice, ^dzhave 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 ^eaTychicus to you, do your best to come to me ^ebat Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and ^ecApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14And let our people learn ^edto devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not ^eebe unfruitful.

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

^efGrace be with you all.