Titus — The Coverdale Bible (1535)

Titus is the pastoral letter on appointing elders in Crete and on godly living. In Coverdale’s Bible of 1535 it stands in the New Testament under the heading “The Epistle of of the Apostle S. Paul vnto Titus”. Coverdale’s summary of the chapters stands before the text; the 1535 Bible has no verse numbers, so the text keeps its own paragraphs, in 3 chapters, with the marginal notes and references printed after each chapter.

The summe of this epistle.

• Chap. I. Paul exhorteth Titus to ordene prestes or biszhoppes in euery cite, declareth what maner of men they ought to be that are chosen to that office, and chargeth Titus to rebuke soch as withstonde the gospell.
• Chap. II. He telleth him how he shal teach all degrees to behaue them selues.
• Chap. III. Of obedience to soch as be in auctorite. He warneth Titus to bewarre of foolish and vnprofitable questions.

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Chapter 1

[A] PAUL the seruaunt of God, and an Apostle off Iesus Christ, ⁽¹⁾ to preach the faith off Gods electe, and the knowlege of yᵉ trueth, which ledeth vnto god lynes, vpon the hope of eternall life: which God ⁽²⁾ that can not lye hath promysed before the tymes of the worlde: but at his tyme hath opened his worde thorow preachinge, which is commytted vnto me acordinge to the commaundemēt of God oure Sauioure.

⁽³⁾ Vnto Titus my naturall sonne after yᵉ comen faith.

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the father, and frō the ⁽⁴⁾ LORDE Iesu Christ oure Sauioure.

[B] For this cause left I the in Creta, that thou shuldest perfourme that which was lackynge, and shuldest ordeyne Elders in euery cite, as I appoynted yᵉ. Yf eny be blamelesse, the huszbande of one wife, hauynge faithfull children, which are not slaundred of ryote, nether are dishobedient.⁽⁵⁾ For a Bisshoppe must be blamelesse, as the ⁽⁶⁾ stewarde of God: not wylfull, not angrye, ⁽⁷⁾ not geuen vnto moch wyne, no fyghter, not gredye of filthye lucre: but harbarous, one that loueth goodnes, sober mynded, righteous, holy, temperate, and soch one as cleueth vnto the true worde of doctryne: that he maye be able to exhorte with wholsome lernynge, & to improue them that saye agaynst it.

⁽⁸⁾ For there are many dishobedient, and [C] talkers of vanite, and disceauers of myndes: namely they of the circūcision, whose mouthes must be stopped:⁽⁹⁾ which peruerte whole houses, teachinge thinges which they oughte not, because of filthye lucre. One of them selues euen their awne prophet, sayde: ⁽¹⁰⁾ The Cretayns are alwayes lyars, euell beestes, and slowe belies. This witnesse is true. Wherfore rebuke them sharply, yᵗ they maye be sounde in the faith, and not to take hede vnto Iewes fables and commaundementes of men, which turne them awaye from the trueth.⁽¹¹⁾ Vnto yᵉ cleane are all thinges cleane: but ⁽¹²⁾ to the vncleane & vnbeleuers, there is nothinge cleane, but both their mynde & conscience is defyled. They saye that they knowe God, but with the dedes they denye him: for so moch as they are abhominable and dishobedient, and vnmete to all good workes.

Notes to Chapter 1

⁽¹⁾ ⟨illegible⟩

⁽²⁾ ⟨illegible⟩

⁽³⁾ ⟨illegible⟩

⁽⁴⁾ ⟨illegible⟩

⁽⁵⁾ ⟨illegible⟩

⁽⁶⁾ ⟨illegible⟩

⁽⁷⁾ ⟨illegible⟩

⁽⁸⁾ Act. 15. a

⁽⁹⁾ 2. Tim. 3. a

⁽¹⁰⁾ Epimenides

⁽¹¹⁾ Mat. 12 a and. 23. c

⁽¹²⁾ Ro. 14. c

Chapter 2

BVt speake thou that which becommeth [A] wholsome learnynge. That yᵉ elder men be sober, honest, discrete, sounde in the faith, in loue, in pacience. And the elder wemen likewyse that they shewe them selues as it becommeth holynes, that they be no false accusers, not geuen to moch wyne, that they teach honest thinges, that they enfourme the yonge wemen to be sober mynded, to loue their huszbandes, to loue their childrē, to be discrete, chaste, huszwyfly, good, ⁽¹⁾ obedient vnto their awne huszbandes, that the worde of God be not euell spoken of. Exhorte the yonge men likewyse, that they be sober mynded. Aboue all thinge shewe thy selfe ⁽²⁾ an ensample off good workes, with vncorrupte doctryne, with honestye, with the wholsome worde which can not be rebuked: ⁽³⁾ that he which withstōdeth maye be ashamed, hauynge nothinge in you that he maye disprayse.

⁽⁴⁾ Exhorte the seruauntes, to be obedient vnto their masters, to please in all thinges, not answeringe agayne, nether to be pykers, but to shewe all good faithful⟨illegible⟩ that in all thinges they maye do ⟨illegible⟩ to the doctryne off God oure Sauioure For the grace of God that bryngeth Saluacion vnto all men, hath appeared, and teacheth vs, that we shulde denye vngodlynes, and ⁽⁵⁾ wordly lustes: and that we shulde lyue discretly, righteously, and godly in this worlde, lokynge for that blessed hope and appearynge of the glory of yᵉ greate God and of oure Sauioure Iesu Christ: ⁽⁶⁾ which gaue him selfe for vs, to redeme vs frō all vnrighteousnes, and to pourge vs to be a peculiar people vnto himselfe, to be feruently geuen ⁽⁷⁾vnto good workes. These thinges speake and exhorte, and rebuke with all earnest. ⁽⁸⁾ Se that no man despyse the.

Notes to Chapter 2

⁽¹⁾ Gen. ⟨illegible⟩. c

⁽²⁾ 1. Tim. 4. b 1. Pet. 5. a

⁽³⁾ 1. Pet. 2 b 3. b

⁽⁴⁾ ⟨illegible⟩

⁽⁵⁾ 1. Ioh. 2. c

⁽⁶⁾ Rom. 8. a Gal. 3. b

⁽⁷⁾ Ephe. 2. b

⁽⁸⁾ 1. Tim. 4. b

Chapter 3

[B] WArne them ⁽¹⁾ that they submytte them selues vnto Prynces and to the hyer auctorite, to obey the officers, to be ready vnto all good workes, that they speake euell of no man, that they be no stryuers, but soft, shewynge all mekenes vnto all men. For we oure selues also were in tymes past, vnwyse, dishobedient, in erroure, seruynge lustes and dyuerse maners of voluptuousnes, lyuynge in maliciousnes and envye, full of hate, hatynge one another.

But after that yᵉ kyndnesse and loue of God oure Sauioure to man warde appeared, not for yᵉ dedes of righteousnes which we wroughte, but after his mercy he saued vs by the ⁽²⁾ fountayne of the new byrth, and renuynge of the holy goost, which he shed on vs abundauntly, thorow Iesus Christ oure Sauioure: yᵗ we beynge made righteous ⁽³⁾ by his grace, shulde be heyres of eternall life acordynge to hope. This is a true sayēge.

[B] Of these thinges wolde I that thou shuldest speake earnestly, that they which are become beleuers in God, might be diligent to excell in good workes: for these thinges are good and profitable vnto mē. ⁽⁴⁾ As for folish questions, and genealogies, and braulynges and stryuynges aboute yᵉ lawe, auoyde thē, for they are vnprofitable and vayne.⁽⁵⁾ A mā that is geuen vnto heresye, after yᵉ first and seconde monicion, auoyde, and knowe, that he that is soch, is peruerted, & synneth euen damned by his awne iudgment.

Whan I shal sende Artemas or Tichicus vnto yᵉ, make spede to come to me vnto Ni⟨illegible⟩polis, for I haue determyned there to ⟨illegible⟩ynter. Brynge Zenas yᵉ Scrybe and Apollos on their iourney diligently, that nothin⟨illegible⟩ be lackynge vnto them. And let oures also learne to excell in good workes, as farre forth as nede requyreth, that they be not ⟨illegible⟩

⟨illegible⟩ with me, salute the. Grete them that loue vs in the faith. Grace be with you all, Amen.

Wrytten from Nicopolis in Macedonia.

Notes to Chapter 3

⁽¹⁾ Rom. 13. a 1. Pet. ⟨illegible⟩. b

⁽²⁾ Ioh. 3. a

⁽³⁾ Act. 15. b Ephe. 2. a

⁽⁴⁾ 1. Tim. 1. a and 6. a 2. Tim. 2. c

⁽⁵⁾ Mat 18. b 2. Tess. 3. a Ro. 16. b

Colophon

This page is an archival transcription of the printed text, not a Good Works Translation. Source: Biblia the Byble, that is, the holy Scrypture of the Olde and New Testament, faithfully translated in to Englyshe (M.D.XXXV; STC 2063.3), translated by Myles Coverdale, the copy in Cambridge University Library, keyed and encoded by the Text Creation Partnership (EEBO-TCP Phase I, text A10349, 2005) and released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 public-domain dedication.

9 places illegible in the Cambridge copy were filled from Samuel Bagster’s 1838 page-for-page reprint of the edition (archive.org, holyscriptures00cove), only where the reprint’s reading is certain; each fill is listed on this room’s Supplied Readings page; 17 places are still marked ⟨illegible⟩ (7 in the text, 10 in the marginal notes).

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