Titus 1

¹Paul , a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ , for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth , which accords with godliness ,

²in hope of eternal life , which God , who never lies , promised before the ages began

³and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior ;

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

⁵This is why I left you in Crete , so that you might put what remained into order , and appoint elders in every town as I directed you —

⁶if anyone is above reproach , the husband of one wife , and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination .

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

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

⁹He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught , so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

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

¹¹They must be silenced , since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.

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

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

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

¹⁵To the pure , all things are pure , but to the defiled and unbelieving , nothing is pure ; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled .

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