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Salutation

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth which leads to godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began, and has in due time revealed His word through preaching, with which I was entrusted according to the command of God our Savior,

To Titus, my own son in the common faith:

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

Titus’ Work in Crete

For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city, as I commanded you: any man who is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children who are not accused of being wild or unruly. For an overseer must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not easily angered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not greedy for dishonest gain, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, self-controlled, just, holy, temperate, holding firmly the trustworthy word that is in accordance with the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort with sound doctrine and to convince those who oppose it.

10 For there are many unruly men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11 who must be silenced, who subvert whole houses by teaching for dishonest gain things they ought not teach. 12 One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and idle gluttons!” 13 This witness is true. So rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure. But to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Even their minds and consciences are defiled. 16 They profess that they know God, but in their deeds they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and worthless for every good work.

Greeting

Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and (A)the acknowledgment of the truth (B)which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who (C)cannot lie, promised before time began, but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior;

To (D)Titus, a true son in our common faith:

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and [a]the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.

Qualified Elders

For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should (E)set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you— if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, (F)having faithful children not accused of [b]dissipation or insubordination. For a [c]bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, (G)not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.

The Elders’ Task

10 For there are many insubordinate, both idle (H)talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11 whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, (I)for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 (J)One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13 This testimony is true. (K)Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not giving heed to Jewish fables and (L)commandments of men who turn from the truth. 15 (M)To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. 16 They profess to (N)know God, but (O)in works they deny Him, being [d]abominable, disobedient, (P)and disqualified for every good work.

Footnotes

  1. Titus 1:4 NU Christ Jesus
  2. Titus 1:6 debauchery, lit. incorrigibility
  3. Titus 1:7 Lit. overseer
  4. Titus 1:16 detestable

Greeting

Paul,(A) a slave of God(B) and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to build up[a] the faith of God’s elect(C) and their knowledge of the truth(D) that leads[b] to godliness,(E) in the hope of eternal life(F) that God, who cannot lie,(G) promised before time began.(H) In His own time He has revealed(I) His message(J) in the proclamation that I was entrusted(K) with by the command(L) of God our Savior:(M)

To Titus,(N) my true son(O) in our common faith.

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

Titus’s Ministry in Crete

The reason I left you in Crete(Q) was to set right what was left undone and, as I directed you, to appoint elders(R) in every town: one(S) who is blameless,(T) the husband of one wife, having faithful[c] children not accused of wildness or rebellion. For an overseer,(U) as God’s administrator, must be blameless, not arrogant, not hot-tempered, not addicted to wine, not a bully, not greedy for money, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled, holding to the faithful message as taught,(V) so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching(W) and to refute those who contradict it.

10 For there are also many rebellious people, full of empty talk and deception, especially those from Judaism.[d] 11 It is necessary to silence them; they overthrow whole 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.[e]

13 This testimony is true.(X) So, rebuke them sharply,(Y) that they may be sound in the faith 14 and may not pay attention to Jewish myths(Z) and the commands of men who reject the truth.(AA)

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(AB) are defiled. 16 They profess to know God,(AC) but they deny Him by their works.(AD) They are detestable, disobedient, and disqualified for any good work.(AE)

Footnotes

  1. Titus 1:1 Or according to
  2. Titus 1:1 Or corresponds
  3. Titus 1:6 Or believing
  4. Titus 1:10 Lit the circumcision
  5. Titus 1:12 This saying is from the Cretan poet Epimenides (6th century b.c.).

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)

Appointing Elders Who Love What Is Good(P)

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.

Rebuking Those Who Fail to Do Good

10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk(AB) and deception, especially those of the circumcision group.(AC) 11 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. 12 One of Crete’s own prophets(AE) has said it: “Cretans(AF) are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.”[c] 13 This saying is true. Therefore rebuke(AG) them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith(AH) 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths(AI) or to the merely human commands(AJ) of those who reject the truth.(AK) 15 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) 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.(AO) They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.(AP)

Footnotes

  1. Titus 1:5 Or ordain
  2. Titus 1:6 Or children are trustworthy
  3. Titus 1:12 From the Cretan philosopher Epimenides