[1] Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, [2] in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began. [3] In his own time he has revealed his word in the preaching with which I was entrusted by the command of God our Savior: [4] To Titus, my true son in our common faith. Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. [5] The reason I left you in Crete was to set right what was left undone and, as I directed you, to appoint elders in every town. [6] An elder must be blameless, the husband of one wife, with faithful children who are not accused of wildness or rebellion. [7] As an overseer of God's household, he must be blameless, not arrogant, not hot-tempered, not an excessive drinker, not a bully, not greedy for money, [8] but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled, [9] holding to the faithful message as taught, so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching and to refute those who contradict it. [10] For there are many rebellious people, full of empty talk and deception, especially those from the circumcision party. [11] It is necessary to silence them; they are ruining entire households by teaching what they shouldn't in order to get money dishonestly. [12] One of their very own prophets said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." [13] This testimony is true. For this reason, rebuke them sharply, so that they may be sound in the faith [14] and may not pay attention to Jewish myths and the commands of people who reject the truth. [15] To the pure, everything is pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; in fact, both their mind and conscience are defiled. [16] They claim to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.
