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Greeting

¹ Paul, a servant^[a] of God and ^(a)an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and ^(b)their knowledge of the truth, ^(c)which accords with godliness, ^2 (d)in hope of eternal life, which God, ^(e)who never lies, ^(f)promised ^(g)before the ages began^{[b] 3} and ^(h)at the proper time manifested in his word^{[c] (i)}through the preaching ^(j)with which I have been entrusted ^(k)by the command of God our Savior;

⁴ To Titus, ^(l)my true child in ^(m)a common faith:

⁽ⁿ⁾Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications for Elders

^5 (o)This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and ^(p)appoint elders in every town as I directed you— ^6 (q)if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,^[d] and his children are believers^[e] and not open to the charge of ^(r)debauchery or insubordination. ⁷ For an overseer,^{[f] (s)}as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not ^(t)be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent ^(u)or greedy for gain, ⁸ but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, ^(v)and disciplined. ⁹ He must ^(w)hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in ^(x)sound^[g] doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

¹⁰ For there are many who are insubordinate, ^(y)empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of ^(z)the circumcision party.^{[h] 11} They must be silenced, since ^(aa)they are upsetting whole families by teaching ^(ab)for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. ^12 (ac)One of the Cretans,^[i] a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons."^{[j] 13} This testimony is true. Therefore ^(ad)rebuke them ^(ae)sharply, that they ^(af)may be sound in the faith, ^14 (ag)not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and ^(ah)the commands of people ^(ai)who turn away from the truth. ^15 (aj)To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and ^(ak)unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^(al)their minds and their consciences are defiled. ^16 (am)They profess to know God, but they ^(an)deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^(ao)unfit for any good work.