| | 1 | Paul, a servant 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-- | |
| | 2 | a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, | |
| | 3 | and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior, | |
| | 4 | To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. | |
| | 5 | The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. | |
| | 6 | An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. | |
| | 7 | Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless--not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. | |
| | 8 | Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. | |
| | 9 | He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. | |
| | 10 | For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. | |
| | 11 | They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach--and that for the sake of dishonest gain. | |
| | 12 | Even one of their own prophets has said, "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons." | |
| | 13 | This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith | |
| | 14 | and will pay no 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 corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. | |
| | 16 | They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good. | |
