Salutation
1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth which leads to godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began, 3 and has in due time revealed His word through preaching, with which I was entrusted according to the command of God our Savior,
4 To Titus, my own son in the common faith:
Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.
Titus’ Work in Crete
5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city, as I commanded you: 6 any man who is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children who are not accused of being wild or unruly. 7 For an overseer must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not easily angered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not greedy for dishonest gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of what is good, self-controlled, just, holy, temperate, 9 holding firmly the trustworthy word that is in accordance with the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort with sound doctrine and to convince those who oppose it.
10 For there are many unruly men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11 who must be silenced, who subvert whole houses by teaching for dishonest gain things they ought not teach. 12 One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and idle gluttons!” 13 This witness is true. So rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure. But to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Even their minds and consciences are defiled. 16 They profess that they know God, but in their deeds they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and worthless for every good work.
