Psalms 86

Great Is Your Steadfast Love

^aA Prayer of David.

1 ^bIncline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
for I am ^cpoor and needy.
2Preserve my life, for I am ^dgodly;
save your servant, who ^etrusts in you—you are my God.
3 ^fBe gracious to me, O Lord,
for to you do I cry all the day.
4Gladden the soul of your servant,
for ^gto you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5For you, O Lord, are good and ^hforgiving,
ⁱabounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
6 ^jGive ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
listen to my plea for grace.
7In ^kthe day of my trouble I call upon you,
^lfor you answer me.
8 There is ^mnone like you among the gods, O Lord,
ⁿnor are there any works like yours.
9 ^oAll the nations you have made shall come
and worship before you, O Lord,
and shall glorify your name.
10For ^pyou are great and ^qdo wondrous things;
^ryou alone are God.
11 ^sTeach me your way, O Lord,
that I may ^twalk in your truth;
^uunite my heart to fear your name.
12I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever.
13 ^vFor great is your steadfast love toward me;
you have ^wdelivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
14 O God, insolent men have ^xrisen up against me;
a band of ruthless men seeks my life,
and they do not set you before them.
15But you, O Lord, are a God ^ymerciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
16 ^zTurn to me and be gracious to me;
give your strength to ^aayour servant,
and save ^abthe son of your maidservant.
17 ^acShow me a sign of your ^adfavor,
that those who hate me may see and be put to shame
because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted 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 ^afan apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and ^agtheir knowledge of the truth, ^ahwhich accords with godliness, 2 ^aiin hope of eternal life, which God, ^ajwho never lies, ^akpromised ^albefore the ages began ▼

▼Greek before times eternal

3and ^anat the proper time manifested in his word ^aothrough the preaching ^apwith which I have been entrusted ^aqby the command of God our Savior;

4To Titus, ^army true child in ^asa common faith:

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

Qualifications for Elders

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

▼Or bishop; Greek episkopos

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

▼Or healthy; also verse 13

doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

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

▼Or  especially those of the circumcision

11They must be silenced, since ^blthey are upsetting whole families by teaching ^bmfor shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 ^bnOne 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 ^bqrebuke them ^brsharply, that they ^bsmay be sound in the faith, 14 ^btnot devoting themselves to Jewish myths and ^buthe commands of people ^bvwho turn away from the truth. 15 ^bwTo the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and ^bxunbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^bytheir minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 ^bzThey profess to know God, but they ^cadeny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^cbunfit for any good work.

Titus 2

Teach Sound Doctrine

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

▼Or healthy; also verses 2, 8

doctrine. 2Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, ^cesound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 ^cfOlder women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, ^cgnot slanderers ^chor 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, ^cipure, ^cjworking at home, kind, and ^cksubmissive to their own husbands, ^clthat the word of God may not be reviled. 6Likewise, urge ^cmthe younger men to be self-controlled. 7Show yourself in all respects to be ^cna model of good works, and in your teaching ^coshow integrity, ^cpdignity, 8and ^cqsound speech that cannot be condemned, ^crso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 ^csBondservants ▼

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

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

11For ^cxthe grace of God ^cyhas appeared, bringing salvation ^czfor all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and ^daworldly passions, and ^dbto live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in ^dcthe present age, 13 ^ddwaiting for our blessed ^dehope, the ^dfappearing of the glory of our great ^dgGod and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 ^dhwho gave himself for us to ^diredeem us from all lawlessness and ^djto purify for himself ^dka people for his own possession who are ^dlzealous for good works.

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

Titus 3

Be Ready for Every Good Work

1Remind them ^doto be submissive to rulers and authorities, ^dpto be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 ^dqto speak evil of no one, ^drto avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and ^dsto show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3For ^dtwe 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 ^duthe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, ^dvnot because of works done by us in righteousness, but ^dwaccording to his own mercy, by ^dxthe washing of regeneration and ^dyrenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6whom he ^dzpoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that ^eabeing justified by his grace we might become ^ebheirs ^ecaccording to the hope of eternal life. 8The saying is ^edtrustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful ^eeto devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9But ^efavoid foolish ^egcontroversies, ^ehgenealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for ^eithey are unprofitable and worthless. 10As for a person who stirs up division, ^ejafter warning him once and then twice, ^ekhave 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 ^elTychicus to you, do your best to come to me ^emat Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and ^enApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14And let our people learn ^eoto devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not ^epbe unfruitful.

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

^eqGrace be with you all.