Titus 1
International Standard Version
Greetings
1 From:[a] Paul, a servant of God, and also an apostle of Jesus the Messiah,[b] to bring the faith to those chosen by God, along with full knowledge of the truth that leads to[c] godliness, 2 which is based on the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before the world[d] began. 3 At the right time he revealed his message through the proclamation that was entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior.
4 To: Titus, a genuine child in the faith that we share.
May grace and peace[e] from God the Father and the Messiah,[f] Jesus our Savior, be yours!
Qualifications for Leaders in the Church
5 The reason I left you in Crete was to complete what still needed to be done and to appoint elders in every city, as I myself commanded you. 6 An elder must be[g] blameless. He must be the husband of one wife[h] and have children who are believers and who are not accused of having wild lifestyles or of being rebellious. 7 Because an overseer is God’s servant manager, he must be blameless. He must not be arrogant or irritable. He must not drink too much, be a violent person, or make money in shameful ways. 8 Instead, he must be hospitable to strangers, must appreciate what is good, and be sensible, honest, moral, and self-controlled. 9 He must be devoted to the trustworthy message that agrees with what we teach, so that he may be able to encourage others with healthy doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
Guard What is True
10 For there are many people who are rebellious, especially those who are converts from Judaism.[i] They speak utter nonsense and deceive people. 11 They must be silenced, because they are the kind of people who ruin whole families by teaching what they should not teach in order to make money in a shameful way. 12 One of their very own prophets said,
“Liars ever, men of Crete,
savage brutes that live to eat.”[j]
13 That statement is true. For this reason, refute them sharply so that they may become healthy in the faith 14 and not pay attention to Jewish myths or commands given by people who reject the truth. 15 Everything is clean to those who are clean, but nothing is clean to those who are corrupt and unbelieving. Indeed, their very way of thinking and their consciences have been corrupted. 16 They claim to know God, but they deny him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, and disqualified to do anything good.
Footnotes
- Titus 1:1 The Gk. lacks From
- Titus 1:1 Or Christ
- Titus 1:1 Lit. that is according to
- Titus 1:2 Or the ages
- Titus 1:4 Other mss. read grace, mercy, and peace
- Titus 1:4 Or Christ
- Titus 1:6 Lit. If anyone is
- Titus 1:6 Or devoted to his wife; lit. a man of one woman
- Titus 1:10 Lit. those of the circumcision
- Titus 1:12 Epimenides (6th to 5th century BC)
Titus 1
The Message
1 1-4 I, Paul, am God’s slave and Christ’s agent for promoting the faith among God’s chosen people, getting out the accurate word on God and how to respond rightly to it. My aim is to raise hopes by pointing the way to life without end. This is the life God promised long ago—and he doesn’t break promises! And then when the time was ripe, he went public with his truth. I’ve been entrusted to proclaim this Message by order of our Savior, God himself. Dear Titus, legitimate son in the faith: Receive everything God our Father and Jesus our Savior give you!
A Good Grip on the Message
5-9 I left you in charge in Crete so you could complete what I left half-done. Appoint leaders in every town according to my instructions. As you select them, ask, “Is this man well-thought-of? Is he committed to his wife? Are his children believers? Do they respect him and stay out of trouble?” It’s important that a church leader, responsible for the affairs in God’s house, be looked up to—not pushy, not short-tempered, not a drunk, not a bully, not money-hungry. He must welcome people, be helpful, wise, fair, reverent, have a good grip on himself, and have a good grip on the Message, knowing how to use the truth to either spur people on in knowledge or stop them in their tracks if they oppose it.
10-16 For there are a lot of rebels out there, full of loose, confusing, and deceiving talk. Those who were brought up religious and ought to know better are the worst. They’ve got to be shut up. They’re disrupting entire families with their teaching, and all for the sake of a fast buck. One of their own prophets said it best:
The Cretans are liars from the womb,
barking dogs, lazy bellies.
He certainly spoke the truth. Get on them right away. Stop that diseased talk of Jewish make-believe and made-up rules so they can recover a robust faith. Everything is clean to the clean-minded; nothing is clean to dirty-minded unbelievers. They leave their dirty fingerprints on every thought and act. They say they know God, but their actions speak louder than their words. They’re real creeps, disobedient good-for-nothings.
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