Study Desk

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 light⁽ⁱ⁾ through the preaching entrusted to me^(j) by the command of God^(k) our Savior,^(l)

To Titus,^(m) my true son⁽ⁿ⁾ in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.^(o)

The reason I left you in Crete^(q) was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint^[a] elders^(r) in every town, as I directed you.

An elder must be blameless,^(s) faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe^[b] and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.

Since an overseer^(t) manages God's household,^(u) he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.^(v)

Rather, he must be hospitable,^(w) one who loves what is good,^(x) who is self-controlled,^(y) upright, holy and disciplined.

He must hold firmly^(z) to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine^(aa) and refute those who oppose it.

For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk^(ab) and deception, especially those of the circumcision group.^(ac)

They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households^(ad) by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain.

One of Crete's own prophets^(ae) has said it: "Cretans^(af) are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons."^[c]

This saying is true. Therefore rebuke^(ag) them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith^(ah)

and will pay no attention to Jewish myths^(ai) or to the merely human commands^(aj) of those who reject the truth.^(ak)

To the pure, all things are pure,^(al) but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure.^(am) In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.^(an)

They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.^(ao) They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.^(ap)