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Paul, a slave of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness,
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in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began,
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and has in His own time revealed His message in the proclamation that I was entrusted with by the command of God our Savior:
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To Titus, my true child in our common faith. Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
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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:
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someone who is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of wildness or rebellion.
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For an overseer, as God's manager, must be blameless, not arrogant, not quick tempered, not addicted to wine, not a bully, not greedy for money,
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but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled,
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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.
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For there are also many rebellious people, idle talkers and deceivers, especially those from Judaism.
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It is necessary to silence them; they overthrow whole households by teaching for dishonest gain what they should not.
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One of their very own prophets said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.
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This testimony is true. So, rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith
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and may not pay attention to Jewish myths and the commandments of men who reject the truth.
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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.
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They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, and disqualified for any good work.
