Titus 1

Greeting

1 Paul, a bondservant who belongs to God and an apostle commissioned by Jesus Christ, writing for the purpose of strengthening and advancing the faith of those whom God has chosen and promoting the knowledge of truth that leads to godly living,

2 based upon the confident expectation of eternal life, which God, who is incapable of falsehood, pledged and promised before the ages began,

3 but at the divinely appointed moment He revealed His word through the public proclamation that was committed to my trust by the direct commandment of God our Savior;

4 To Titus, my true spiritual son who shares a common faith with me:

May you experience grace and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications of Elders

5 The reason I left you behind in Crete was so that you might complete the work that remains to be done and appoint elders in each town and city, following the instructions I gave you—

6 selecting only those who are above reproach, married to one wife, whose children are believers and are not open to charges of wild living or of being uncontrollable.

7 For it is essential that an overseer be blameless in character, since he serves as a steward entrusted with God’s household. He must not be self-willed, not prone to outbursts of anger, not given to excessive drinking, not violent or quick to use physical force, not pursuing profit through dishonest means,

8 but instead he must show hospitality, he must have a love for what is good and excellent, he must exercise self-control and sound judgment, he must act with justice, he must be holy in his conduct, he must be disciplined in his habits,

9 holding firmly to the reliable word that is consistent with the apostolic teaching, so that he will have the ability both to encourage others with instruction that promotes spiritual health and to refute those who oppose the truth.

10 For there exist many people who refuse to submit to authority—people who speak empty and meaningless words and who deceive others—and this is especially true of those who come from the circumcision party,

11 who must have their mouths stopped, since they are overturning entire families by teaching things they have no right to teach, all for the sake of gaining money through disgraceful means.

12 One of their own number, a prophet who belongs to them, has made this statement: “Cretans are habitual liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

13 This testimony is true. For this very reason, rebuke them with sharpness, so that they may become sound and healthy in their faith,

14 and stop paying attention to Jewish myths and to the regulations of people who have turned their backs on the truth.

15 To those who are pure, all things are pure; but to those who are corrupted, nothing is pure, for both their minds and their consciences have been polluted.

16 They make the claim that they know God, but by their actions they utterly deny Him, proving themselves to be abhorrent and disobedient, disqualified for any good work.

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