TIT 3:5 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT it was not by works of righteousness that we did but by his mercy that he saved us through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

UST he saved us by removing our sin from us as though he had washed it away. As he did this, the Holy Spirit made us new and enabled us to start living in a new way for God. He did not save us because we do good things, but he saved us because he is merciful.

BSB He saved us, not by [the] righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through [the] washing of new birth[fn] and renewal by [the] Holy Spirit.

BLB He saved us, not by works in righteousness that we did, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,

AICNT not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,[fn]

3:5, Spirit: The Greek word for Spirit is given the following definitions by BDAG: (1) air in movement, blowing, breathing, (2) that which animates or gives life to the body, breath , (life-)spirit, (3) a part of human personality, spirit, (4) an independent noncorporeal being, in contrast to a being that can be perceived by the physical senses, spirit, or (5) God's being as controlling influence, with focus on association with humans, Spirit, spirit ... (c) Because of its heavenly origin and nature this Spirit is called (the) Holy Spirit. (BDAG, πνεῦμα)

OEB not as the result of any righteous actions that we had done, but due to his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the power of the Holy Spirit,

CSB he saved us —not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy —through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

NLT he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.

NIV he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

CEV He saved us because of his mercy, and not because of any good things we have done. God washed us by the power of the Holy Spirit. He gave us new birth and a fresh beginning.

ESV he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

NASB He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

LSB He saved us, not by works which we did in righteousness, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

WEBBE not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

WMBB not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the mikveh of rebirth and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

MSG ^(3-11)It wasn’t so long ago that we ourselves were stupid and stubborn, easy marks for sin, ordered every which way by our glands, going around with a chip on our shoulder, hated and hating back. But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, he saved us from all that. It was all his doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our Savior Jesus poured out new life so generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives. And there’s more life to come—an eternity of life! You can count on this.

NET he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit,

LSV (not by works that [are] in righteousness that we did but according to His kindness), He saved us, through a bathing of regeneration, and a renewing of the Holy Spirit,

FBV not because of anything good that we've done, but because of his mercy. He did this through the cleansing of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

TCNT he saved us, not because of any righteous works we had done, but according to his mercy, through the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit.

T4T 4-5 Even though we were behaving sinfully like this, God our Savior acted kindly and lovingly to us [PRS], and saved us! He did this, not because we did things that are right, but just because he wanted to be merciful to us! He washed us inwardly and gave us a new way of living as a result of the Holy Spirit changing us inwardly.

LEB he saved us, not by deeds of righteousness that we have done, but because of his mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

NRSV he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

NKJV not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,

NAB not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy, he saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the holy Spirit,

BBE Not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but in the measure of his mercy, he gave us salvation, through the washing of the new birth and the giving of new life in the Holy Spirit,

Moff and he saved us, not for anything we had done but from his own pity for us, by the water that means regeneration and renewal under the holy Spirit

Wymth as righteous men, had done, but as the result of His own mercy He saved us by means of the bath of regeneration and the renewal of our natures by the Holy Spirit,

ASV not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,

DRA Not by the works of justice, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us, by the laver of regeneration, and renovation of the Holy Ghost;

YLT (not by works that [are] in righteousness that we did but according to His kindness,) He did save us, through a bathing of regeneration, and a renewing of the Holy Spirit,

Drby not on the principle of works which [have been done] in righteousness which we had done, but according to his own mercy he saved us through [the] washing of regeneration and renewal of [the] Holy Spirit,

RV not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost,

SLT Not of works in justice which we did; but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and the renovation of the Holy Spirit;

Wbstr Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit;

KJB-1769 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

KJB-1611 Not by workes of righteousnesse which wee haue done, but according to his mercy he saued vs, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the holy Ghost,
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)

Bshps Not of workes which be in ryghteousnesse wrought, but accordyng to his mercie, he saued vs by the fountayne of regeneration and renuyng of the holy ghost,
(Not of works which be in righteousness wrought/done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the fountain of regeneration and renuing of the holy ghost,)

Gnva Not by the woorkes of righteousnesse, which we had done, but according to his mercie he saued vs, by the washing of the newe birth, and the renewing of the holy Ghost,
(Not by the works of righteousness, which we had done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of the new birth, and the renewing of the holy Ghost, )

Cvdl not for ye dedes of righteousnes which we wroughte, but after his mercy he saued vs by the fountayne of the new byrth, and renuynge of the holy goost,
(not for ye/you_all deeds of righteousness which we wrought/donee, but after his mercy he saved us by the fountain of the new birth, and renuing of the holy ghost,)

TNT not of the dedes of rightewesnes which we wrought but of his mercie he saved vs by the foutayne of the newe birth and with the renuynge of the holy goost
(not of the deeds of rightewesnes which we wrought/done but of his mercy he saved us by the fountain of the new birth and with the renuing of the holy ghost )

Wycl not of werkis of riytwisnesse that we diden, but bi his merci he made vs saaf, bi waischyng of ayen bigetyng, and ayen newyng of the Hooli Goost,
(not of works of righteousness that we diden, but by his mercy he made us safe, by washing of again bigeting, and again newing of the Holy Ghost,)

Luth nicht um der Werke willen der Gerechtigkeit, die wir getan hatten, sondern nach seiner Barmherzigkeit machte er uns selig durch das Bad der Wiedergeburt und Erneuerung des Heiligen Geistes,
(not around/by/for the/of_the work will the/of_the justice, the we/us did had, rather after his compassion made/did he us/to_us/ourselves blessed through the Bad the/of_the Howdergeburt and Erneuerung the saints/holy_ones spirit,)

ClVg non ex operibus justitiæ, quæ fecimus nos, sed secundum suam misericordiam salvos nos fecit per lavacrum regenerationis et renovationis Spiritus Sancti,
(not/no from works justice, which I_didmus us, but after/second his_own mercy salvos us he_did through lavacrum kingneration and renovationis Spirit Holy, )

UGNT οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων τῶν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, ἃ ἐποιήσαμεν ἡμεῖς, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸ αὐτοῦ ἔλεος, ἔσωσεν ἡμᾶς, διὰ λουτροῦ παλινγενεσίας καὶ ἀνακαινώσεως Πνεύματος Ἁγίου,
(ouk ex ergōn tōn en dikaiosunaʸ, ha epoiaʸsamen haʸmeis, alla kata to autou eleos, esōsen haʸmas, dia loutrou palingenesias kai anakainōseōs Pneumatos Hagiou,)

SBL-GNT οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων τῶν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ ⸀ἃ ἐποιήσαμεν ἡμεῖς ἀλλὰ κατὰ ⸂τὸ αὐτοῦ ἔλεος⸃ ἔσωσεν ἡμᾶς διὰ λουτροῦ παλιγγενεσίας καὶ ἀνακαινώσεως πνεύματος ἁγίου,
(ouk ex ergōn tōn en dikaiosunaʸ ⸀ha epoiaʸsamen haʸmeis alla kata ⸂to autou eleos⸃ esōsen haʸmas dia loutrou palingenesias kai anakainōseōs pneumatos hagiou,)

RP-GNT οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων τῶν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ ὧν ἐποιήσαμεν ἡμεῖς, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸν αὐτοῦ ἔλεον ἔσωσεν ἡμᾶς, διὰ λουτροῦ παλιγγενεσίας καὶ ἀνακαινώσεως πνεύματος ἁγίου,
(ouk ex ergōn tōn en dikaiosunaʸ hōn epoiaʸsamen haʸmeis, alla kata ton autou eleon esōsen haʸmas, dia loutrou palingenesias kai anakainōseōs pneumatos hagiou,)

TC-GNT οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων τῶν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ [fn]ὧν ἐποιήσαμεν ἡμεῖς, ἀλλὰ κατὰ [fn]τὸν αὐτοῦ ἔλεον ἔσωσεν ἡμᾶς, διὰ λουτροῦ [fn]παλιγγενεσίας καὶ ἀνακαινώσεως Πνεύματος Ἁγίου,
(ouk ex ergōn tōn en dikaiosunaʸ hōn epoiaʸsamen haʸmeis, alla kata ton autou eleon esōsen haʸmas, dia loutrou palingenesias kai anakainōseōs Pneumatos Hagiou, )

3:5 ων ¦ α CT

3:5 τον αυτου ελεον ¦ το αυτου ελεος CT

3:5 παλιγγενεσιας ¦ παλινγενεσιας TH WH

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 3:1–11: Christians should live good lives among unbelievers

This section contains the last major theme in this letter. In 2:1–14, Paul had discussed relationships between Christians. Now in 3:1–11, he wrote about relationships that Christians have with non-Christians. He once more gave Titus instructions to pass on to the believers: they must submit to government authorities, be kind to other people, and not participate in useless arguments. God has given them new life because of what Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit have done, and they should live in peace and be generous to others.

3:5a

He saved us,

and/when he saved/rescued us^(incl).
He delivered us from our sins.

He saved us: In Greek the verb that the BSB translates as saved is the main verb of this long sentence (3:4–7). The pronoun He refers to God our Savior, from 3:4. The pronoun us refers to Paul, Titus, and all believers, all God’s people.

3:5b

not by the righteous deeds we had done,

He did this, not because we had done righteous works/things
He did not do this because of anything good that we had done.

not by the righteous deeds we had done: This verse part explains that God did not save his people on the grounds of any good works that they had done. Their righteous acts were not the cause of or reason for their salvation. They did nothing to contribute to it. Their salvation is not a reward for their good deeds.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

it was not because of any upright actions we had done ourselves (NJB)

not on the basis of deeds which we did in righteousness (NASB)

not because we had done righteous deeds

In some languages it may be natural to begin a new sentence here. For example:

He did not save us because of any righteous things we had done

It wasn’t because of the good things we had done. (NIrV)

righteous deeds we had done: This phrase is more literally “works that we did in righteousness.” Paul did not make it clear whether or not people had in fact ever done any righteous deeds. Try to leave this open or ambiguous. For example:

any good deeds that we have done

good things we might have done

righteous deeds: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as righteous deeds refers to behaving or acting in righteous ways, deeds done in obedience to God’s laws. Other ways to translate this include:

upright actions (NJB)

good works/deeds

things that are good in God’s sight

3:5c

but according to His mercy,

but because he had compassion on us.
Rather, he did this, because he is merciful.

but according to His mercy: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as but here introduces a strong contrast. Paul now gave the real or true reason why God acted to save us. The reason was his own mercy. Here are some other ways to translate this:

Rather, he saved us because he had mercy on us.

No, it was because of his mercy that he saved us.

His mercy: This phrase refers to God’s mercy, that is, God’s compassion for us. In some languages it may be natural to translate this as a clause with a verb. For example:

God had mercy on us

God showed us kindness

General Comment on 3:5a-c

In some languages it may be natural to reorder the information in these verse parts and put the positive statement first (5c) and the negative second (5b). God saved us because of his mercy. It was not because of our good deeds that he saved us. For example:

^5aHe saved us ^5cbecause of his mercy. ^5bIt was not because of the righteous things that we had done.

3:5d

through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

He did this by washing us, so giving us new birth, and by renewing us by the Holy Spirit.
We received this salvation/deliverance because he cleansed us and in this way gave us new life, and because he gave us the Holy Spirit to cause us to live in a new way.

through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit: In Greek this complex phrase can be understood in a number of different ways. Here are the main options:

The Holy Spirit is the agent of one action, renewal. God saved people by means of two things: the washing of new birth and the renewal that was given or caused by the Holy Spirit. For example:
through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit (NET)
The Holy Spirit is the agent of two actions (new birth, renewal). God saved people by means of one thing: washing them. This washing can be explained or understood as the new birth and renewal of the Holy Spirit. For example:
through the washing in which the Holy Spirit gives us new birth and renewal (GW)
The Holy Spirit is the agent of three actions (washing, new birth, renewal). God saved people through these three actions of the Holy Spirit. For example:
through the Holy Spirit, who gives us new birth and new life by washing us (GNT)

All these options have wide support among scholars, and all can be defended from the Greek sentence structure. Some English translations (such as the BSB) are ambiguous or unclear. These Notes and Display follow interpretation (1).3:5 See Knight, The Pastoral Epistles.

through: The Greek word that the BSB translates as through here introduces the means by which God saves people. Following interpretation (1) above, there are two means: “washing of rebirth” and “renewal by the Holy Spirit.”3:5 The Greek text does not contain the definite article “the” anywhere in this phrase. It has been supplied by the BSB. In some languages it may be best to omit it. So in some languages it may be natural to repeat the word through and translate the entire phrase as:

through washing of rebirth and through renewal by/of the Holy Spirit

the washing of new birth: The Greek word that the BSB translates as washing here means “cleansing.” It probably refers to inward cleansing, that is, to purifying people from sin. This washing or cleansing is symbolized by baptism. The phrase washing of new birth probably identifies washing as a new birth, that is, inward cleansing is a kind of rebirth, or results in new birth. For example:

cleansing us, causing us to receive new birth

new birth: The Greek word that the BSB translated as new birth means “new beginning.” This word also occurs in Matthew to refer to the new creation. In this context it refers to the new beginning in someone’s life when they receive new life and become a Christian. Other NT writers use the figure of speech “born again” to refer to the event of becoming a Christian (John 3:3; 1 Peter 1:3, 1:23). If you have already translated these passages, check the expression you used there before deciding what to do here. Other ways to translate this include:

God gave us new birth/life

God enabled us to begin to live in a new way

God caused us to follow a new path

renewal: The Greek word the BSB translates as renewal means “new beginning” in the sense of “a fresh start.” This word also occurs in Romans 12:2. In this context it has a similar meaning to “new birth.” The difference between the two is that the word for “new birth” indicates the starting point of new life, and the word for renewal refers to the new type of life that results from that new birth. Here are some other ways to translate this:

new life (GNT)

making us/believers new people