Tit 1 | ESV | STEP | Paul , a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ , for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth , which accords with godliness ,

‏ Titus 1

Greeting

1 Paul, a servant ^{▼▼Or slave (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)} of God and ^ban apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and ^ctheir knowledge of the truth, ^dwhich accords with godliness, 2 ^ein hope of eternal life, which God, ^fwho never lies, ^gpromised ^hbefore the ages began ^{▼▼Greek before times eternal} 3 and ^jat the proper time manifested in his word ^kthrough the preaching ^lwith which I have been entrusted ^mby the command of God our Savior;

4 To Titus, ⁿmy true child in ^oa common faith:

^pGrace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications for Elders

5 ^qThis is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and ^rappoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6 ^sif anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, ^{▼▼Or a man of one woman} and his children are believers ^{▼▼Or are faithful} and not open to the charge of ^vdebauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer, ^{▼▼Or bishop; Greek episkopos} ^xas God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not ^ybe arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent ^zor greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, ^aaand disciplined. 9 He must ^abhold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in ^acsound ^{▼▼Or healthy; also verse 13} doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

10 For there are many who are insubordinate, ^aeempty talkers and deceivers, especially those of ^afthe circumcision party. ^{▼▼Or especially those of the circumcision} 11 They must be silenced, since ^ahthey are upsetting whole families by teaching ^aifor shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 ^ajOne of the Cretans, ^{▼▼Greek One of them} a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” ^{▼▼Probably from Epimenides of Crete} 13 This testimony is true. Therefore ^amrebuke them ^ansharply, that they ^aomay be sound in the faith, 14 ^apnot devoting themselves to Jewish myths and ^aqthe commands of people ^arwho turn away from the truth. 15 ^asTo the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and ^atunbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^autheir minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 ^avThey profess to know God, but they ^awdeny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^axunfit for any good work.