| As for you, Titus, promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching. | But say the things which fit sound doctrine. |
| Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. | For you need endurance so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise. |
| Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority. | Therefore give everyone what you owe: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if customs, then customs; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. |
| Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. | Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. |
| Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. | Let your eyes look straight ahead. Fix your gaze directly before you. |
| Loyalty makes a person attractive. It is better to be poor than dishonest. | That which makes a man to be desired is his kindness. A poor man is better than a liar. |
| Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure. | Beloved, now we are children of God. It is not yet revealed what we will be; but we know that when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him just as he is. Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure. |
| But be sure to fear the Lord and faithfully serve him. Think of all the wonderful things he has done for you. | Only fear Yahweh, and serve him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things he has done for you. |
| But if wicked people turn away from all their sins and begin to obey my decrees and do what is just and right, they will surely live and not die. | But if the wicked turns from all his sins that he has committed, and keeps all my statutes, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live. He shall not die. |
| Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” | Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you.” |
| The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer him sacrifices. | To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice. |
| Now this is what the Lord says to the family of Israel: “Come back to me and live!” | For Yahweh says to the house of Israel: “Seek me, and you will live.” |
| The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. | For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire. |
| You know what I long for, Lord; you hear my every sigh. | Lord, all my desire is before you. My groaning is not hidden from you. |
| The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. | No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. |
| And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. | In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don’t know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered. |
| You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. | For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, Yahweh, you know it altogether. |
| Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. | He who walks blamelessly and does what is right, and speaks truth in his heart; he who doesn’t slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his friend, nor casts slurs against his fellow man. |
| And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.” | He said, “That which proceeds out of the man, that defiles the man. For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts, covetings, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile the man.” |
| Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. | That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. |
| The Lord is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray. He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way. | Good and upright is Yahweh, therefore he will instruct sinners in the way. He will guide the humble in justice. He will teach the humble his way. |
| You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. | You lust, and don’t have. You murder and covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask. |
| But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the Lord alone. | But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to Yahweh. |
| No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. | For who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except God’s Spirit. |
| What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord. | Now why do you wait? Arise, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord. |
Related topics
Obedience
Jesus replied, “All who...
Righteousness
Whoever pursues righteousness and...
Sin
Don’t you realize that...
Spirit
For the Lord is...
Speaking
The tongue can bring...
Honesty
Dear children, let’s not...