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a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, 2 In the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the beginning of time, 3 and at His appointed time He has revealed His word through the proclamation that was entrusted to me by the command of God our Saviour,
4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith:
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour.
5 The reason I left you in Crete was to finish off the things that were left unfinished, and to appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6 An elder must be blameless, the husband of one wife, who has faithful children not accused of being wild or rebellious. 7 For an overseer is entrusted as God’s steward, and he must be blameless—not arrogant, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, and not greedy for money. 8 Rather he must be hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, upright, holy, and self-controlled. 9 He must have a firm grasp of the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he will be able to encourage others with doctrine and refute those people who contradict it.
10 For there are many rebellious people, merely idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are unsettling whole households by teaching things they shouldn’t teach for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 Even one of their own prophets said, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” 13 This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will become sound in the faith, 14 and will not pay attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.