Bible Reading Plan – Day 333

₁From Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ.

I was chosen and sent to help the faith of God's chosen people and to lead them to the truth taught by our religion, ₂which is based on the hope for eternal life. God, who does not lie, promised us this life before the beginning of time, ₃and at the right time he revealed it in his message. This was entrusted to me, and I proclaim it by order of God our Saviour.

₄I write to Titus, my true son in the faith that we have in common.

May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour give you grace and peace.

₅I left you in Crete, so that you could put in order the things that still needed doing and appoint church elders in every town. Remember my instructions: ₆an elder must be blameless; he must have only one wife, and his children must be believers and not have the reputation of being wild or disobedient. ₇For since a church leader is in charge of God's work, he should be blameless. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered, or a drunkard or violent or greedy for money. ₈He must be hospitable and love what is good. He must be self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. ₉He must hold firmly to the message which can be trusted and which agrees with the doctrine. In this way he will be able to encourage others with the true teaching and also to show the error of those who are opposed to it.

₁₀For there are many, especially converts from Judaism, who rebel and deceive others with their nonsense. ₁₁It is necessary to stop their talk, because they are upsetting whole families by teaching what they should not, and all for the shameful purpose of making money. _12-13It was a Cretan himself, one of their own prophets, who spoke the truth when he said, “Cretans are always liars, wicked beasts, and lazy gluttons.” For this reason you must rebuke them sharply, so that they may have a healthy faith ₁₄and no longer hold on to Jewish legends and to human commandments which come from people who have rejected the truth. ₁₅Everything is pure to those who are themselves pure; but nothing is pure to those who are defiled and unbelieving, for their minds and consciences have been defiled. ₁₆They claim that they know God, but their actions deny it. They are hateful and disobedient, not fit to do anything good.

₁But you must teach what agrees with sound doctrine. ₂Instruct the older men to be sober, sensible, and self-controlled; to be sound in their faith, love, and endurance. ₃In the same way instruct the older women to behave as women should who live a holy life. They must not be slanderers or slaves to wine. They must teach what is good, ₄in order to train the younger women to love their husbands and children, ₅to be self-controlled and pure, and to be good housewives who submit to their husbands, so that no one will speak evil of the message that comes from God.

₆In the same way urge the young men to be self-controlled. ₇In all things you yourself must be an example of good behaviour. Be sincere and serious in your teaching. ₈Use sound words that cannot be criticized, so that your enemies may be put to shame by not having anything bad to say about us.

₉Slaves are to submit to their masters and please them in all things. They must not answer them back ₁₀or steal from them. Instead, they must show that they are always good and faithful, so as to bring credit to the teaching about God our Saviour in all they do.

₁₁For God has revealed his grace for the salvation of the whole human race. ₁₂That grace instructs us to give up ungodly living and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this world, ₁₃as we wait for the blessed Day we hope for, when the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ will appear. ₁₄He gave himself for us, to rescue us from all wickedness and to make us a pure people who belong to him alone and are eager to do good.

₁₅Teach these things and use your full authority as you encourage and rebuke your hearers. Let none of them look down on you.

₁Remind your people to submit to rulers and authorities, to obey them, and to be ready to do good in every way. ₂Tell them not to speak evil of anyone, but to be peaceful and friendly, and always to show a gentle attitude towards everyone. ₃For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, and wrong. We were slaves to passions and pleasures of all kinds. We spent our lives in malice and envy; others hated us and we hated them. ₄But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour was revealed, ₅he saved us. It was not because of any good deeds that we ourselves had done, but because of his own mercy that he saved us, through the Holy Spirit, who gives us new birth and new life by washing us. ₆God poured out the Holy Spirit abundantly on us through Jesus Christ our Saviour, ₇so that by his grace we might be put right with God and come into possession of the eternal life we hope for. ₈This is a true saying.

I want you to give special emphasis to these matters, so that those who believe in God may be concerned with giving their time to doing good deeds, which are good and useful for everyone. ₉But avoid stupid arguments, long lists of ancestors, quarrels, and fights about the Law. They are useless and worthless. ₁₀Give at least two warnings to those who cause divisions, and then have nothing more to do with them. ₁₁You know that such people are corrupt, and their sins prove that they are wrong.

₁₂When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me in Nicopolis, because I have decided to spend the winter there. ₁₃Do your best to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos to get started on their travels, and see to it that they have everything they need. ₁₄Our people must learn to spend their time doing good, in order to provide for real needs; they should not live useless lives.

₁₅All who are with me send you greetings. Give our greetings to our friends in the faith.

God's grace be with you all.