Greeting
1Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, 2in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began. 3In his own time he has revealed his word in the preaching with which I was entrusted by the command of God our Savior:
4To Titus, my true son in our common faith.
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
Titus’s Ministry in Crete
5The reason I left you in Crete was to set right what was left undone and, as I directed you, to appoint elders in every town. 6An elder must be blameless, the husband of one wife, with faithful children who are not accused of wildness or rebellion. 7As an overseer of God’s household, he must be blameless, not arrogant, not hot-tempered, not an excessive drinker, not a bully, not greedy for money, 8but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled, 9holding to the faithful message as taught, so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching and to refute those who contradict it.
10For there are many rebellious people, full of empty talk and deception, especially those from the circumcision party. 11It is necessary to silence them; they are ruining entire households by teaching what they shouldn’t in order to get money dishonestly. 12One of their very own prophets said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13This testimony is true. For this reason, rebuke them sharply, so that they may be sound in the faith 14and may not pay attention to Jewish myths and the commands of people who reject the truth.
15To the pure, everything is pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; in fact, both their mind and conscience are defiled. 16They claim to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.