1 Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith of God’s chosen ones and the accurate knowledge of the truth which accords with godly devotion 2 upon the basis of a hope of the everlasting life which God, who cannot lie, promised before times long lasting, 3 whereas in his own due times he made his word manifest in the preaching with which I was entrusted, under command of our Savior, God; 4 to Titus, a genuine child according to a faith shared in common:
May there be undeserved kindness and peace from God [the] Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you might correct the things that were defective and might make appointments of older men in city after city, as I gave you orders; 6 if there is any man free from accusation, a husband of one wife, having believing children that were not under a charge of debauchery nor unruly. 7 For an overseer must be free from accusation as God’s steward, not self-willed, not prone to wrath, not a drunken brawler, not a smiter, not greedy of dishonest gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of goodness, sound in mind, righteous, loyal, self-controlled, 9 holding firmly to the faithful word as respects his [art of] teaching, that he may be able both to exhort by the teaching that is healthful and to reprove those who contradict.
10 For there are many unruly men, profitless talkers, and deceivers of the mind, especially those men who adhere to the circumcision. 11 It is necessary to shut the mouths of these, as these very men keep on subverting entire households by teaching things they ought not for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 A certain one of them, their own prophet, said: “Cre´tans are always liars, injurious wild beasts, unemployed gluttons.”
13 This witness is true. For this very cause keep on reproving them with severity, that they may be healthy in the faith, 14 paying no attention to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn themselves away from the truth. 15 All things are clean to clean [persons]. But to [persons] defiled and faithless nothing is clean, but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 They publicly declare they know God, but they disown him by their works, because they are detestable and disobedient and not approved for good work of any sort.
2013 © Copyright Free. We thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. We would rather put up with anything than be an obstacle to the Good News about Christ.