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Do not rebuke an older man, but appeal to him as if he were your father. Treat the younger men as your brothers,
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the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, with all purity.
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Show respect for widows who really are all alone.
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But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they should learn first to carry out their religious duties toward their own family and in this way repay their parents and grandparents, because that is what pleases God.
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A widow who is all alone, with no one to take care of her, has placed her hope in God and continues to pray and ask him for his help night and day.
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But a widow who gives herself to pleasure has already died, even though she lives.
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Give them these instructions, so that no one will find fault with them.
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But if any do not take care of their relatives, especially the members of their own family, they have denied the faith and are worse than an unbeliever.
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Do not add any widow to the list of widows unless she is over sixty years of age. In addition, she must have been married only once
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and have a reputation for good deeds: a woman who brought up her children well, received strangers in her home, performed humble duties for other Christians, helped people in trouble, and devoted herself to doing good.
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But do not include younger widows in the list; because when their desires make them want to marry, they turn away from Christ,
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and so become guilty of breaking their earlier promise to him.
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They also learn to waste their time in going around from house to house; but even worse, they learn to be gossips and busybodies, talking of things they should not.
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So I would prefer that the younger widows get married, have children, and take care of their homes, so as to give our enemies no chance of speaking evil of us.
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For some widows have already turned away to follow Satan.
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But if any Christian woman has widows in her family, she must take care of them and not put the burden on the church, so that it may take care of the widows who are all alone.
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The elders who do good work as leaders should be considered worthy of receiving double pay, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.
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For the scripture says, "Do not muzzle an ox when you are using it to thresh grain" and "Workers should be given their pay."
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Do not listen to an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or more witnesses.
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Rebuke publicly all those who commit sins, so that the rest may be afraid.
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In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the holy angels I solemnly call upon you to obey these instructions without showing any prejudice or favor to anyone in anything you do.
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Be in no hurry to lay hands on people to dedicate them to the Lord's service. Take no part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.
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Do not drink water only, but take a little wine to help your digestion, since you are sick so often.
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The sins of some people are plain to see, and their sins go ahead of them to judgment; but the sins of others are seen only later.
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In the same way good deeds are plainly seen, and even those that are not so plain cannot be hidden.
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Those who are slaves must consider their masters worthy of all respect, so that no one will speak evil of the name of God and of our teaching.
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Slaves belonging to Christian masters must not despise them, for they are believers too. Instead, they are to serve them even better, because those who benefit from their work are believers whom they love. You must teach and preach these things.
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Whoever teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the true words of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching of our religion
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is swollen with pride and knows nothing. He has an unhealthy desire to argue and quarrel about words, and this brings on jealousy, disputes, insults, evil suspicions,
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and constant arguments from people whose minds do not function and who no longer have the truth. They think that religion is a way to become rich.
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Well, religion does make us very rich, if we are satisfied with what we have.
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What did we bring into the world? Nothing! What can we take out of the world? Nothing!
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So then, if we have food and clothes, that should be enough for us.
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But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and are caught in the trap of many foolish and harmful desires, which pull them down to ruin and destruction.
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For the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil. Some have been so eager to have it that they have wandered away from the faith and have broken their hearts with many sorrows.
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But you, man of God, avoid all these things. Strive for righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.
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Run your best in the race of faith, and win eternal life for yourself; for it was to this life that God called you when you firmly professed your faith before many witnesses.
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Before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who firmly professed his faith before Pontius Pilate, I command you
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to obey your orders and keep them faithfully until the Day when our Lord Jesus Christ will appear.
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His appearing will be brought about at the right time by God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
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He alone is immortal; he lives in the light that no one can approach. No one has ever seen him; no one can ever see him. To him be honor and eternal power! Amen.
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Command those who are rich in the things of this life not to be proud, but to place their hope, not in such an uncertain thing as riches, but in God, who generously gives us everything for our enjoyment.
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Command them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share with others.
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In this way they will store up for themselves a treasure which will be a solid foundation for the future. And then they will be able to win the life which is true life.
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Timothy, keep safe what has been entrusted to your care. Avoid the profane talk and foolish arguments of what some people wrongly call "Knowledge."
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For some have claimed to possess it, and as a result they have lost the way of faith. God's grace be with you all.
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From 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,
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which is based on the hope for eternal life. God, who does not lie, promised us this life before the beginning of time,
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and at the right time he revealed it in his message. This was entrusted to me, and I proclaim it by order of God our Savior.
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I write to Titus, my true son in the faith that we have in common. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior give you grace and peace.
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I 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:
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an elder must be without fault; he must have only one wife, and his children must be believers and not have the reputation of being wild or disobedient.
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For since a church leader is in charge of God's work, he should be without fault. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered, or a drunkard or violent or greedy for money.
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He must be hospitable and love what is good. He must be self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.
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He 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.
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For there are many, especially the converts from Judaism, who rebel and deceive others with their nonsense.
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It 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.
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It 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
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and no longer hold on to Jewish legends and to human commandments which come from people who have rejected the truth.
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Everything 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.
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They claim that they know God, but their actions deny it. They are hateful and disobedient, not fit to do anything good.
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But you must teach what agrees with sound doctrine.
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Instruct the older men to be sober, sensible, and self-controlled; to be sound in their faith, love, and endurance.
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In 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,
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in order to train the younger women to love their husbands and children,
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to be self-controlled and pure, and to be good housewives who submit themselves to their husbands, so that no one will speak evil of the message that comes from God.
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In the same way urge the young men to be self-controlled.
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In all things you yourself must be an example of good behavior. Be sincere and serious in your teaching.
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Use sound words that cannot be criticized, so that your enemies may be put to shame by not having anything bad to say about us.
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Slaves are to submit themselves to their masters and please them in all things. They must not talk back to them
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or 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 Savior in all they do.
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For God has revealed his grace for the salvation of all people.
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That grace instructs us to give up ungodly living and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this world,
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as we wait for the blessed Day we hope for, when the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ will appear.
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He 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.
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Teach these things and use your full authority as you encourage and rebuke your hearers. Let none of them look down on you.
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Remind your people to submit to rulers and authorities, to obey them, and to be ready to do good in every way.
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Tell them not to speak evil of anyone, but to be peaceful and friendly, and always to show a gentle attitude toward everyone.
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For 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.
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But when the kindness and love of God our Savior was revealed,
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he 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.
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God poured out the Holy Spirit abundantly on us through Jesus Christ our Savior,
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so that by his grace we might be put right with God and come into possession of the eternal life we hope for.
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This 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.
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But avoid stupid arguments, long lists of ancestors, quarrels, and fights about the Law. They are useless and worthless.
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Give at least two warnings to those who cause divisions, and then have nothing more to do with them.
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You know that such people are corrupt, and their sins prove that they are wrong.
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When 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.
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Do 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.
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Our people must learn to spend their time doing good, in order to provide for real needs; they should not live useless lives.
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All who are with me send you greetings. Give our greetings to our friends in the faith. God's grace be with you all.
