Titus 1

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, which God, who does not lie, promised before the ages began.

3At the proper time he revealed his word through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior.

4To Titus, my true child in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

5The reason I left you in Crete was so that you might set right what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.

6An elder must be blameless, the husband of one wife, whose children are faithful and not open to the charge of wild living or rebellion.

7For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be blameless. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for dishonest gain,

8but hospitable, a lover of what is good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.

9He must hold firmly to the trustworthy word as it has been taught, so that he may be able both to encourage others with sound teaching and to refute those who oppose it.

10For there are many who are rebellious, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group.

11They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole households by teaching what they should not, for the sake of dishonest gain.

12One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

13This testimony is true. So rebuke them sharply, so that they may be sound in the faith,

14and not pay attention to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth.

15To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Both their minds and their consciences are defiled.

16They claim to know God, but they deny him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.