1Paul, a servant of Goda and an apostleb of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truthc that leads to godlinessd— 2in the hope of eternal life,e which God, who does not lie,f promised before the beginning of time,g 3and which now at his appointed seasonh he has brought to lighti through the preaching entrusted to mej by the command of Godk our Savior,l
4To Titus,m my true sonn in our common faith:
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.o
Appointing Elders Who Love What Is Good
1:6-8Ref — 1Ti 3:2–4
5The reason I left you in Cretep was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint1 eldersq in every town, as I directed you. 6An elder must be blameless,r faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe2 and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7Since an overseers manages God’s household,t he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.u 8Rather, he must be hospitable,v one who loves what is good,w who is self-controlled,x upright, holy and disciplined. 9He must hold firmlyy to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrinez and refute those who oppose it.
Rebuking Those Who Fail to Do Good
10For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talka and deception, especially those of the circumcision group.b 11They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole householdsc by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12One of Crete’s own prophetsd has said it: “Cretanse are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.”3 13This saying is true. Therefore rebukef them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faithg 14and will pay no attention to Jewish mythsh or to the merely human commandsi of those who reject the truth.j 15To the pure, all things are pure,k but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure.l In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.m 16They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.n They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.o
Doing Good for the Sake of the Gospel
1You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine.a 2Teach the older menb to be temperate,c worthy of respect, self-controlled,d and sound in faith,e in love and in endurance.
3Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderersf or addicted to much wine,g but to teach what is good. 4Then they can urge the younger womenh to love their husbands and children, 5to be self-controlledi and pure, to be busy at home,j to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands,k so that no one will malign the word of God.l
6Similarly, encourage the young menm to be self-controlled.n 7In everything set them an exampleo by doing what is good.p In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.q
9Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything,r to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Saviors attractive.t
11For the graceu of God has appearedv that offers salvation to all people.w 12It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions,x and to live self-controlled,y upright and godly livesz in this present age, 13while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearinga of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,b 14who gave himself for usc to redeem us from all wickednessd and to purifye for himself a people that are his very own,f eager to do what is good.g
15These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.
Saved in Order to Do Good
1Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities,a to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good,b 2to slander no one,c to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.
3At one timed we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4But when the kindnesse and love of God our Saviorf appeared,g 5he saved us,h not because of righteous things we had done,i but because of his mercy.j He saved us through the washingk of rebirth and renewall by the Holy Spirit, 6whom he poured out on usm generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that, having been justified by his grace,n we might become heirso having the hopep of eternal life.q 8This is a trustworthy saying.r And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good.s These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
9But avoidt foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrelsu about the law,v because these are unprofitable and useless.w 10Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them.x 11You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.
Final Remarks
12As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicusy to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there.z 13Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollosa on their way and see that they have everything they need. 14Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good,b in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.
15Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith.c
Grace be with you all.d