Greeting

¹Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s chosen ones and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness,

²in the hope of eternal life, which the unlying God promised before time eternal,

³but in ʜɪꜱ own time revealed ʜɪꜱ word in the preaching I was entrusted with according to the command of God our Savior.

⁴To Titus, my true child according to a common faith:

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

Appointing Elders

⁵The reason I left you in Crete was to set the remaining things in order and appoint elders in every city as I directed you:

⁶someone who is blameless, a one-woman-man, having faithful children who are not accused of being wild or rebellious.

⁷As a household manager for God, the overseer must be unaccusable, not arrogant, not quick-tempered, not always around wine, not violent, not greedy for dishonest gain,

⁸but hospitable, a lover of good, clear-minded, just, devout, self-disciplined,

⁹holding firmly to the faithful word as it was taught, in order to be able to encourage with sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it.

On Refuting Error

¹⁰For there are many rebellious people, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those in the circumcision group.

¹¹It is necessary to shut their mouths because they are disrupting entire households by teaching things they shouldn’t for dishonest gain.

¹²One of their very own prophets said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons.”

¹³That account is true. For this reason, you must rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith,

¹⁴not paying attention to Jewish myths and human commandments from those who turn away from the truth.

¹⁵To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and faithless, nothing is pure. In fact, both their mind and their conscience are defiled.

¹⁶They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny ʜɪᴍ. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.