BibleWare/BibWare.bin/bibtrans/weymouth.exe/TIT.WNT

Text File | 1993-06-07 | 7KB | 134 lines

1:1 Paul, a bondservant of God and an Apostle of Jesus Christ
 for building up the faith of God's own people and spreading a
 full knowledge of the truths of religion,
1:2 in hope of the Life of the Ages which God, who is never
 false to His word, promised before the commencement of the
 Ages.
1:3 And at the appointed time He clearly made known His Message
 in the preaching with which I was entrusted by the command of
 God our Saviour:
1:4 To Titus my own true child in /1 our common faith. May grace
 and peace be granted to you from God the Father and Christ
 Jesus our Saviour.
1:5 I have left you behind in Crete in order that you may set
 right the things which still require attention, and appoint
 Elders in every town, as I directed you to do;
1:6 wherever there is a man of blameless life, /2 true to his
 one wife, having children who are themselves believers and are
 free from every reproach of profligacy or of stubborn
 self-will.
1:7 For, as God's steward, /3 a minister must be of blameless
 life, not over-fond of having his own way, not a man of a
 passionate temper nor a hard drinker, not given to blows nor
 greedy of gain,
1:8 but hospitable to strangers, a lover /4 of goodness,
 sober-minded, upright, saintly, self-controlled;
1:9 holding fast to the faithful Message /5 which he has
 received, so that he may be well qualified both to encourage
 others with sound teaching and to reply successfully to
 opponents.
1:10 For there are many that spurn authority--idle, talkative
 and deceitful persons, who, for the most part, are adherents of
 the Circumcision.
1:11 You must stop the mouths of such men, for they overthrow
 the faith of whole families, teaching what they ought not, just
 for the sake of making money.

1:12 One of their own number--a Prophet who is a countryman of
 theirs--has said, "Cretans are always liars, dangerous animals,
 idle gluttons."
1:13 This testimony is true. Therefore sternly denounce them,
 that they may be robust in their faith,
1:14 and not give attention to Jewish legends and the /1 maxims
 of men who turn their backs on the truth.
1:15 To the pure everything is pure; but to the polluted and
 unbelieving nothing is pure, but on the contrary their very
 minds and consciences are polluted.
1:16 They profess to know God; but in their actions they disown
 Him, and are detestable and disobedient men, and for any good
 work are utterly useless.
2:1 But as for you, you must speak in a manner that befits
 wholesome teaching.
2:2 Exhort aged men to be temperate, grave, sober-minded, robust
 in their faith, their love and their patience.
2:3 In the same way exhort aged women to let their conduct be
 such as becomes consecrated persons. They must not be
 slanderers nor enslaved to wine-drinking. They must be teachers
 of what is right.
2:4 They should school the young women to be /2 affectionate to
 their husbands and to their children, to be sober-minded, pure
 in their lives,
2:5 industrious in their homes, kind, submissive to their
 husbands, so that the Christian teaching may not be exposed to
 reproach.
2:6 In the same way exhort the younger men to be discreet,
2:7 and above all make your own life a pattern of right conduct,
 having in your teaching no taint of insincerity, but a serious
 tone,
2:8 and healthy language which no one can censure, so that our
 opponents may feel ashamed at having nothing evil to say
 against us.
2:9 Exhort slaves to be always obedient to their owners, and to
 give them satisfaction in everything, not contradicting and not
 pilfering,
2:10 but manifesting perfect fidelity and kind feeling, in order
 to bring honour to the teaching of our Saviour, God, in all
 things.

2:11 For the grace of God has displayed itself with healing
 power to all mankind,
2:12 training us to renounce ungodliness and all the pleasures
 of this world, and to live sober, upright, and pious lives at
 the present time,
2:13 in expectation of the fulfilment of our blessed hope--the
 /1 Appearing in glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus
 Christ;
2:14 who gave Himself for us to purchase our freedom from all
 iniquity, and purify for Himself a people who should be /2
 specially His own, zealous for doing good works.
2:15 Thus speak, exhort, reprove, with all impressiveness. Let
 no one make light of your authority.
3:1 Remind people that they must submit to the rulers who are in
 authority over them; that they must obey the magistrates, be
 prepared for every right action,
3:2 not speak evil of any one, nor be contentious, but yield
 unselfishly to others and constantly manifest a forgiving
 spirit towards all men.
3:3 For there was a time when we also were deficient in
 understanding, obstinate, deluded, the slaves of various
 cravings and pleasures, spending our lives in malice and envy,
 hateful ourselves and hating one another.
3:4 But when the goodness of God our Saviour, and His love to
 man, /3 dawned upon us, not in consequence of things which we,
3:5 as righteous men, had done, but as the result of His own
 mercy He saved us by means of the bath of regeneration and the
 renewal of our natures by the Holy Spirit,
3:6 which He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our
 Saviour;
3:7 in order that having been declared righteous through His
 grace we might become heirs to the Life of the Ages in
 fulfilment of our hopes.
3:8 This is a faithful saying, and on these various points I
 would have you insist strenuously, in order that those who have
 their faith fixed on God may be careful to set an example of
 good actions. For these are not only good in themselves, but
 are also useful to mankind.

3:9 But hold yourself aloof from foolish controversies and /1
 pedigrees and discussions and wrangling about the Law, for they
 are useless and vain.
3:10 After a first and second admonition, have nothing further
 to do with any one /2 who will not be taught;
3:11 for, as you know, a man of that description has turned
 aside from the right path and is a sinner self-condemned.
3:12 After I have sent Artemas or Tychicus to you, lose no time
 in joining me at Nicopolis; for I have decided to pass the
 winter there.
3:13 Help Zenas the lawyer forward on his journey with special
 care, and Apollos, so that they may have all they require.
3:14 And let our people too learn to set a good example in
 following honest occupations for the supply of their
 necessities, so that they may not live useless lives.
3:15 Every one here sends you greeting. Greet the believers who
 hold us dear. May grace be with you all.