Titus 1

Paul, a servant of God^a and an apostle^b of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth^c that leads to godliness^d— in the hope of eternal life,^e which God, who does not lie,^f promised before the beginning of time,^g and which now at his appointed season^h he has brought to lightⁱ through the preaching entrusted to me^j by the command of God^k our Savior,^l

To Titus,^m my true sonⁿ in our common faith:

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.^o

Appointing Elders Who Love What Is Good

1:6-8^Ref — 1Ti 3:2–4

The reason I left you in Crete^a was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders^b in every town, as I directed you. An elder must be blameless,^c faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer^d manages God’s household,^e he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.^f Rather, he must be hospitable,^g one who loves what is good,^h who is self-controlled,ⁱ upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly^j to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine^k and refute those who oppose it.

Rebuking Those Who Fail to Do Good

For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk^a and deception, especially those of the circumcision group.^b They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households^c by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. One of Crete’s own prophets^d has said it: “Cretans^e are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” He has surely told the truth! Therefore rebuke^f them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith^g and will pay no attention to Jewish myths^h or to the merely human commandsⁱ of those who reject the truth.^j To the pure, all things are pure,^k but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure.^l In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.^m They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.ⁿ They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.^o