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Salutation

¹ Paul, ^(C1)a bond-servant of God and an ^(C2)apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Jesus Christ, for the faith of God's ^(C3)chosen ones and to lead and encourage them to recognize and pursue ^(C4)the knowledge of the truth which ^(C5)leads to godliness,² based on ^(C1)the hope and divine guarantee of eternal life, the life which God, ^(C2)who is ever truthful and without deceit, ^(C3)promised ^(C4)before the ages of time began,³ and ^(C1)at the appointed time has made known His word and revealed it as His message, through ^(C2)preaching, which was ^(C3)entrusted to me ^(C4)according to the command of ^(C5)God our Savior—

⁴ To ^(C1)Titus, ^(C2)my true child in a ^(C3)common faith: ^(C4)Grace and peace inner calm and spiritual well-being from God the Father and ^(C5)Christ Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications of Elders

⁵ For this reason I left you behind in ^(C1)Crete, so that you would set right what remains unfinished, and ^(C2)appoint ^(F1)(C3)elders in every city as I directed you,⁶ namely, ^(C1)a man of unquestionable integrity, the ^(C2)husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of ^(C3)being immoral or ^(C4)rebellious.⁷ For the ^(F1)(C1)overseer, as ^(C2)God's steward, must be blameless, not ^(C3)self-willed, not quick-tempered, not ^(C4)addicted to wine, not violent, ^(C5)not greedy for dishonest gain but financially ethical.⁸ And he must be ^(C1)hospitable to believers, as well as strangers, a ^(C2)lover of what is good, sensible (upright), fair, devout, self-disciplined above reproach—whether in public or in private.^9 (C1)He must hold firmly to the trustworthy word of God as it was taught to him, so that he will be able both to give accurate instruction in ^(C2)sound reliable, error-free doctrine and to refute those who contradict it by explaining their error.

^10 (C1)For there are many ^(C2)rebellious men who are ^(C3)empty talkers just windbags and deceivers; especially ^(C4)those of the circumcision those Jews who insist that Gentile believers must be circumcised and keep the Law in order to be saved.¹¹ They must be silenced, because they are upsetting whole ^(C1)families by teaching ^(C2)things they should not teach ^(C3)for the purpose of dishonest financial gain.¹² One of them Epimenides, a Cretan, a ^(F1)prophet of their own, said, "^(C1)Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons."¹³ This description is true. So ^(C1)rebuke them ^(C2)sharply so that they will be ^(C3)sound in the faith and free from doctrinal error,¹⁴ not paying attention to Jewish ^(C1)myths and the ^(C2)commandments and rules of men who ^(C3)turn their backs on the truth.^15 (C1)To the pure, all things are pure; but ^(C2)to the corrupt and unbelieving, nothing is pure; both their ^(C3)mind and their conscience are corrupted.^16 (C1)They profess to know God to recognize and be acquainted with Him, but by their actions they ^(C2)deny and disown Him. They are ^(C3)detestable and ^(C4)disobedient and ^(C5)worthless ^(C6)for good work of any kind.