| 1 It is for you, then, to preach the behaviour which goes with healthy doctrine. |
| 2 Older men should be reserved, dignified, moderate, sound in faith and love and perseverance. |
| 3 Similarly, older women should behave as befits religious people, with no scandal-mongering and noaddiction to wine -- they must be the teachers of right behaviour |
| 4 and show younger women how they should love their husbands and love their children, |
| 5 how they must be sensible and chaste, and how to work in their homes, and be gentle, and obey theirhusbands, so that the message of God is not disgraced. |
| 6 Similarly, urge younger men to be moderate in everything that they do, |
| 7 and you yourself set an example of good works, by sincerity and earnestness, when you are teaching,and by a message sound and irreproachable |
| 8 so that any opponent will be at a loss, with no accusation to make against us. |
| 9 Slaves must be obedient to their masters in everything, and do what is wanted without argument; |
| 10 and there must be no pilfering -- they must show complete honesty at al times, so that they are in everyway a credit to the teaching of God our Saviour. |
| 11 You see, God's grace has been revealed to save the whole human race; |
| 12 it has taught us that we should give up everything contrary to true religion and all our worldly passions;we must be self-restrained and live upright and religious lives in this present world, |
| 13 waiting in hope for the blessing which will come with the appearing of the glory of our great God andSaviour Christ Jesus. |
| 14 He offered himself for us in order to ransom us from al our faults and to purify a people to be his veryown and eager to do good. |
| 15 This is what you must say, encouraging or arguing with ful authority; no one should despise you. |