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Psalm 115

1  Not to us, Lord, not to us,
      but to your name give the glory, ♦︎
   for the sake of your loving mercy and truth.
2  Why should the nations say, ♦︎
   ‘Where is now their God?’
3  As for our God, he is in heaven; ♦︎
   he does whatever he pleases.
4  Their idols are silver and gold, ♦︎
   the work of human hands.
5  They have mouths, but cannot speak; ♦︎
   eyes have they, but cannot see;
6  They have ears, but cannot hear; ♦︎
   noses have they, but cannot smell;
7  They have hands, but cannot feel;
      feet have they, but cannot walk; ♦︎
   not a whisper do they make from their throats.
8  Those who make them shall become like them ♦︎
   and so will all who put their trust in them.
9  But you, Israel, put your trust in the Lord; ♦︎
   he is their help and their shield.
10  House of Aaron, trust in the Lord; ♦︎
   he is their help and their shield.
11  You that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; ♦︎
   he is their help and their shield.
12  The Lord has been mindful of us and he will bless us; ♦︎
   may he bless the house of Israel;
      may he bless the house of Aaron;
13  May he bless those who fear the Lord, ♦︎
   both small and great together.
14  May the Lord increase you more and more, ♦︎
   you and your children after you.
15  May you be blest by the Lord, ♦︎
   the maker of heaven and earth.
16  The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, ♦︎
   but the earth he has entrusted to his children.
17  The dead do not praise the Lord, ♦︎
   nor those gone down into silence;
18  But we will bless the Lord, ♦︎
   from this time forth for evermore.
      Alleluia.

A Song of Joy

¹⁴ Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
   shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
   O daughter Jerusalem!
¹⁵ The Lord has taken away the judgements against you,
   he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
   you shall fear disaster no more.
¹⁶ On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Do not fear, O Zion;
   do not let your hands grow weak.
¹⁷ The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
   a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
   he will renew you^* in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing
¹⁸   as on a day of festival.^*
I will remove disaster from you,^*
   so that you will not bear reproach for it.
¹⁹ I will deal with all your oppressors
   at that time.
And I will save the lame
   and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
   and renown in all the earth.
²⁰ At that time I will bring you home,
   at the time when I gather you;
for I will make you renowned and praised
   among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
   before your eyes, says the Lord.

THE LETTER OF PAUL TO

Titus

Salutation

1Paul, a servant^* of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that is in accordance with godliness, ²in the hope of eternal life that God, who never lies, promised before the ages began— ³in due time he revealed his word through the proclamation with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Saviour,

4 To Titus, my loyal child in the faith we share:

Grace^* and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour.

Titus in Crete

5 I left you behind in Crete for this reason, that you should put in order what remained to be done, and should appoint elders in every town, as I directed you: ⁶someone who is blameless, married only once,^* whose children are believers, not accused of debauchery and not rebellious. ⁷For a bishop,^* as God’s steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or addicted to wine or violent or greedy for gain; ⁸but he must be hospitable, a lover of goodness, prudent, upright, devout, and self-controlled. ⁹He must have a firm grasp of the word that is trustworthy in accordance with the teaching, so that he may be able both to preach with sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it.

10 There are also many rebellious people, idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision; ¹¹they must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for sordid gain what it is not right to teach. ¹²It was one of them, their very own prophet, who said,
‘Cretans are always liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons.’
¹³That testimony is true. For this reason rebuke them sharply, so that they may become sound in the faith, ¹⁴not paying attention to Jewish myths or to commandments of those who reject the truth. ¹⁵To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure. Their very minds and consciences are corrupted. ¹⁶They profess to know God, but they deny him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.