Add parallel Print Page Options

Teth

65 You have handled Your servant well,
    O Eternal One, as You promised.
66 Help me to learn good judgment and knowledge
    because I believe Your commandments.
67 Before I had trouble, I strayed from the true path, the path of righteousness,
    but now I live according to Your word.
68 You are truly good, and Your acts are too;
    teach me what You require.
69 The proud smear me with their lies;
    I will keep Your instructions wholeheartedly.
70 Their hearts are dull and callous;
    I am delighted to study Your teaching.
71 It is a good thing that I was humbled
    because it helped me learn Your limits.
72 Your teachings are more valuable to me
    than a fortune in gold and silver.

Read full chapter

12 The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has identified a time for assault
    against the arrogant and proud, against all who think they’re so indomitable.
They will be humbled.
13 Against all the high and lofty:
    against the cedars of Lebanon
    and the oaks of Bashan,
14 Against the tallest mountains
    and the highest hills,
15 Against every watchtower
    and every defended border,
16 Against all the trading ships of Tarshish,
    against all the luxury vessels.
17 On that day, humankind’s false pride will be shattered and pulled down.[a]
    Then the Eternal, no one and nothing else, will be the center of attention,
Lifted up in high esteem.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 2:17 Meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.

Paul, servant of God and emissary[a] of Jesus, the Anointed One, on behalf of the faith that is accepted by God’s chosen people and the knowledge of the undeniable truth that leads to godliness.

Paul is ready to defend the truth. He knows it is pure and honorable. He knows that it comes from and leads back to God. In contrast, Paul perceives the constant threat of false teaching that produces chaos, overturns entire families, and is filled with myths and instructions taught by those outside the faith. This counter-truth is filled with lusts and passions that tear down others, and it results in petty debates over family trees with fights and disagreements over the law. The line is clearly drawn between them. Paul leaves no room to sit on the fence; there is no partial truth—the future of the church is at stake.

We rest in this hope we’ve been given—the hope that we will live forever with our God—the hope that He proclaimed ages and ages ago (even before time began). And our God is no liar; He is not even capable of uttering lies. So we can be sure that it is in His exact right time that He released His word into the world—through the preaching that God our Savior has commanded into my care.

His word brings into the world the absolute clarity of God’s perspective and life-saving knowledge.

To you, Titus, my dear son birthed through our shared faith: may grace and peace rest upon you from God the Father and Jesus the Anointed, our Savior.

I left you on Crete so you could sort out the chaos and the unfinished business and appoint elders over communities in each and every city according to my earlier orders. Here’s what you should look for in an elder: he should be above suspicion; if he is married, he should be the husband of one wife, raise children who believe, and be a person who can’t be accused of rough and raucous living. It is necessary that any overseer you appoint be blameless, as he is entrusted with God’s mission. Look for someone who isn’t pompous or quick to anger, who is not a drunkard, violent, or chasing after seedy gain or worldly fame. Find a person who lovingly opens his home to others; who honors goodness; who is thoughtful, fair, devout, self-controlled; and who clings to the faithful word that was taught because he must be able, not only to encourage people with sound teaching, but also to challenge those who are against it.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 1:1 Literally, apostle

Bible Gateway Recommends