Tit 1 | Comm | STEP | Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth which leads to godliness,

Titus 1

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 which leads to godliness, 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior, 4 to Titus, my true child in a common faith: grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you might straighten out what was left unfinished, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you,

6 namely, if any man is blameless, the husband of one wife, and his children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild or rebellious. 7 For the overseer must be blameless as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not violent, not fond of sordid gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of what is good, master of himself, upright, holy, and self-controlled; 9 he must hold firm to the sure word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to refute those who contradict it. 10 For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision. 11 They must be silenced, because they are upsetting whole families by teaching things they ought not to teach for the sake of sordid gain. 12 One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." 13 This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they may be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of men who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are corrupted and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 They profess to know God, but they deny him by their deeds; they are detestable and disobedient, unfit for any good deed.