Psa 3
 
bd[See ver. 1 above]

Psalms 3:1

Save Me, O My God

A Psalm of David, awhen he fled from Absalom his son.

1 O Lord, bhow many are my foes!
Many are crising against 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 ean apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and ftheir knowledge of the truth, gwhich accords with godliness,
2 hin hope of eternal life, which God, iwho never lies, jpromised kbefore the ages began
Greek before times eternal
3and mat the proper time manifested in his word nthrough the preaching owith which I have been entrusted pby the command of God our Savior;

4To Titus, qmy true child in ra common faith:

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

Qualifications for Elders

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

10For there are many who are insubordinate, ahempty talkers and deceivers, especially those of aithe circumcision party.
Or  especially those of the circumcision
11They must be silenced, since akthey are upsetting whole families by teaching alfor shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 amOne 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 aprebuke them aqsharply, that they armay be sound in the faith, 14 asnot devoting themselves to Jewish myths and atthe commands of people auwho turn away from the truth. 15 avTo the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and awunbelieving, nothing is pure; but both axtheir minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 ayThey profess to know God, but they azdeny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, baunfit for any good work.

Titus 2

Teach Sound Doctrine

1But as for you, teach what accords with bbsound
Or healthy; also verses 2, 8
doctrine.
2Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, bdsound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 beOlder women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, bfnot slanderers bgor 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, bhpure, biworking at home, kind, and bjsubmissive to their own husbands, bkthat the word of God may not be reviled. 6Likewise, urge blthe younger men to be self-controlled. 7Show yourself in all respects to be bma model of good works, and in your teaching bnshow integrity, bodignity, 8and bpsound speech that cannot be condemned, bqso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 brBondservants
Or Slaves (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)
are to be submissive to their own masters btin everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative,
10not pilfering, bubut showing all good faith, bvso that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

11For bwthe grace of God bxhas appeared, bringing salvation byfor all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and bzworldly passions, and cato live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in cbthe present age, 13 ccwaiting for our blessed cdhope, the ceappearing of the glory of our great cfGod and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 cgwho gave himself for us to chredeem us from all lawlessness and cito purify for himself cja people for his own possession who are ckzealous for good works.

15Declare these things; exhort and clrebuke with all authority. cmLet no one disregard you.

Titus 3

Be Ready for Every Good Work

1Remind them cnto be submissive to rulers and authorities, coto be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 cpto speak evil of no one, cqto avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and crto show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3For cswe 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 ctthe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, cunot because of works done by us in righteousness, but cvaccording to his own mercy, by cwthe washing of regeneration and cxrenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6whom he cypoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that czbeing justified by his grace we might become daheirs dbaccording to the hope of eternal life. 8The saying is dctrustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful ddto devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9But deavoid foolish dfcontroversies, dggenealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for dhthey are unprofitable and worthless. 10As for a person who stirs up division, diafter warning him once and then twice, djhave 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 dkTychicus to you, do your best to come to me dlat Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and dmApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14And let our people learn dnto devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not dobe unfruitful.

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

dpGrace be with you all.

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