Titus 1

Paulʼs Greeting to Titusⓘ

Paul greets Titus, his true child in faith¹Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of Godʼs elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, ²in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.^{a 3}In His own time He has made His word evident in the proclamation 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.

Appointing Elders on Creteⓘ

Appoint qualified elders in every Cretan town⁵The reason I left you in Crete was that you would set in order what was unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. ⁶An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife,^b having children who are believers and who are not open to accusation of indiscretion or insubordination.

⁷As Godʼs steward, an overseer must be above reproach—not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not greedy for money. ⁸Instead, he must be hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. ⁹He must hold firmly to the faithful word as it was taught, so that he can encourage others by sound teaching and refute those who contradict it.

Correcting False Teachersⓘ

Silencing rebellious teachers in Crete¹⁰For many are rebellious and full of empty talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision, ¹¹who must be silenced. For the sake of dishonorable gain, they undermine entire households and teach things they should not. ¹²As one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”^c

¹³This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sternly, so that they will be sound in the faith ¹⁴and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of men who have rejected the truth.

¹⁵To the pure, all things are pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Indeed, both their minds and their consciences are defiled. ¹⁶They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.