Preach the Word
4 I tcharge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, uwho is to judge the living and the dead, and by his vappearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; wreprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 xFor the time is coming when people will not endure ysound1 teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and zwander off into amyths. 5 But as for you, always be sober-minded, bendure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, cfulfill your ministry.
6 dFor I am already being epoured out as a drink offering, and the time of my fdeparture has come. 7 I have fought the ggood fight, I have hfinished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is ilaid up for me the jcrown of righteousness, which the Lord, the krighteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
Personal Instructions
9 Do your best lto come to me soon. 10 For mDemas, nin love with othis present world, phas deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia,2 qTitus to Dalmatia. 11 rLuke alone is with me. Get sMark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 12 tTychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. 14 uAlexander the coppersmith did me great harm; vthe Lord will repay him waccording to his deeds. 15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. 16 At my first xdefense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and ystrengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and zall the Gentiles might hear it. So I was arescued bfrom the lion’s mouth. 18 cThe Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. dTo him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Final Greetings
19 Greet ePrisca and Aquila, and the household of fOnesiphorus. 20 Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. 21 Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers.3
Titus
Greeting
1 Paul, a aservant1 of God and an bapostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s celect and their dknowledge of the truth, ewhich accords with godliness, 2 in fhope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, gpromised before the ages began2 3 and hat the proper time imanifested in his word3 through the preaching with which I have been jentrusted kby the command of God our Savior;
4 To lTitus, mmy true child in a common faith:
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
Qualifications for Elders
5 nThis is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and oappoint pelders in every town as I directed you— 6 qif anyone is above reproach, rthe husband of one wife,4 and his children are believers5 and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an soverseer,6 as God’s tsteward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or uquick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in vsound7 doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
10 For there are many who are insubordinate, wempty talkers and deceivers, especially those of xthe circumcision party.8 11 They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for yshameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 zOne of the Cretans,9 a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”10 13 aThis testimony is true. Therefore brebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not devoting themselves to Jewish cmyths and the dcommands of people who turn away from the truth. 15 To the pure, eall things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ftheir minds and their gconsciences are defiled. 16 hThey profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.
Teach Sound Doctrine
2 But as for you, teach what accords with isound1 doctrine. 2 jOlder men are to be sober-minded, dignified, kself-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, lpure, mworking at home, kind, and nsubmissive to their own husbands, othat the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a pmodel of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, qso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 rBondservants2 are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.
11 For sthe grace of God has appeared, bringing tsalvation ufor all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly vpassions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and wgodly lives in xthe present age, 13 ywaiting for our blessed hope, the zappearing of the glory of aour great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself ba people for his own possession who are zealous cfor good works.
15 Declare these things; dexhort and erebuke with all authority. fLet no one disregard you.
Be Ready for Every Good Work
3 Remind them to be gsubmissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be hready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For iwe ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, jslaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But kwhen the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, lnot because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the mwashing of nregeneration and orenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he ppoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified qby his grace we might become rheirs according to the shope of eternal life. 8 tThe saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have ubelieved in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and vprofitable for people. 9 But wavoid foolish xcontroversies, ygenealogies, dissensions, and zquarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and aworthless. 10 As for a person who bstirs up division, cafter warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
Final Instructions and Greetings
12 When I send Artemas or dTychicus to you, edo your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13 Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and fApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14 And let our people learn to gdevote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be hunfruitful.
15 All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith.
iGrace be with you all.
Philemon
Greeting
1 Paul, a aprisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,
To Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2 and Apphia our sister and bArchippus our cfellow soldier, and dthe church in your house:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philemon’s Love and Faith
4 eI thank my God always when I fremember you in my prayers, 5 because gI hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6 and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full hknowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.1 7 For iI have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.
Paul’s Plea for Onesimus
8 Accordingly, though I am jbold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, 9 yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— 10 kI appeal to you for my child, lOnesimus,2 whose mfather I became in my imprisonment. 11 (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13 I would have been glad to keep him with me, nin order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might onot be by compulsion but of your own accord. 15 For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 pno longer as a bondservant3 but more than a bondservant, as a beloved qbrother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
17 So if you consider me your rpartner, receive him as you would receive me. 18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 sI, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20 Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.
21 tConfident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do ueven more than I say. 22 At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for vI am hoping that wthrough your prayers I will be graciously given to you.
Final Greetings
23 xEpaphras, my yfellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, 24 and so do Mark, Aristarchus, zDemas, and aLuke, my fellow workers.
25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
