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.

Hebrews

The Supremacy of God’s Son

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, ^awhom he appointed the heir of all things, ^bthrough whom also he created the world. 3 ^cHe is the radiance of the glory of God and ^dthe exact imprint of his nature, and ^ehe upholds the universe by the word of his power. After ^fmaking purification for sins, ^ghe sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the ^hname he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,

Or again,

6 And again, when he brings the ^kfirstborn into the world, he says,

7 Of the angels he says,

8 But of the Son he says,

10 And,

13 And to which of the angels has he ever said,

14 Are they not all ^uministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to ^vinherit salvation?