A Song of Joy

Salutation

1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that is in accordance with godliness, ² in the hope of eternal life that God, who never lies, promised before the ages began^(A)— ³ in due time he revealed his word through the proclamation with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior,^(B)

⁴ To Titus, my true child^[a] in the faith we share:

Grace^[b] and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.^(C)

Titus in Crete

⁵ I left you behind in Crete for this reason, so that you should put in order what remained to be done and should appoint elders in every town, as I directed you:^{(D) 6} someone who is blameless, married only once,^[c] whose children are believers, not accused of debauchery and not rebellious.^{(E) 7} For a bishop,^[d] as God’s steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or addicted to wine or violent or greedy for gain,^{(F) 8} but he must be hospitable,^[e] a lover of goodness, self-controlled, upright, devout, and restrained, ⁹ holding tightly to the trustworthy word of the teaching, so that he may be able both to exhort with sound instruction and to refute those who contradict it.

¹⁰ There are also many rebellious people, idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision;^{(G) 11} they must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for sordid gain what it is not right to teach.^{(H) 12} It was one of them, their very own prophet, who said,

¹³ That testimony is true. For this reason rebuke them sharply, so that they may become sound in the faith,^{(I) 14} not paying attention to Jewish myths or to commandments of those who reject the truth.^{(J) 15} To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure; their very minds and consciences are corrupted.^{(K) 16} They profess to know God, but they deny him by their actions; they are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.^(L)

Dedication to Theophilus

1 Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative about the events that have been fulfilled among us, ² just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word,^{(A) 3} I, too, decided, as one having a grasp of everything from the start,^[a] to write a well-ordered account for you, most excellent Theophilus,^{(B) 4} so that you may have a firm grasp of the words in which you have been instructed.

The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

⁵ In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was descended from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.^{(C) 6} Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord.^{(D) 7} But they had no children because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.

⁸ Once when he was serving as priest before God during his section’s turn of duty,^{(E) 9} he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to offer incense.^{(F) 10} Now at the time of the incense offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside.^{(G) 11} Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified, and fear overwhelmed him. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.^{(H) 14} You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,^{(I) 15} for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.^{(J) 16} He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.^{(K) 17} With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”^{(L) 18} Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I know that this will happen? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.”^{(M) 19} The angel replied, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.^{(N) 20} But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.”^(O)

²¹ Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering at his delay in the sanctuary. ²² When he did come out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them and remained unable to speak. ²³ When his time of service was ended, he returned to his home.

²⁴ After those days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she remained in seclusion. She said, ²⁵ “This is what the Lord has done for me in this time, when he looked favorably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people.”^(P)