Titus
Paul’s Letter to Titus
1 Paul, servant of God, and Jesus Christ’s delegate for the matter of the faith of God’s chosen and their awareness of truth along the line of piety 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who has no falsehoods, promised ages ago 3* but disclosed his word at the right time by a proclamation with which I was entrusted by order of God our savior, 4 to Titus my very own child by common faith, grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
5* I left you in Crete for this purpose, to have you straighten out what remained to be seen to and appoint elders in the different cities as I directed you— 6 anyone who is of blameless reputation, husband of one wife, having believing children not under accusations of debauchery nor insubordinate. 7 For the church visitor must be of blameless reputation as God’s steward, not high and mighty, not hot-tempered, not disorderly over his wine, not apt to come to blows, not mercenary, 8 but hospitable, loving whatever is good, discreet, honest, godly, master of his appetites, 9 in touch with the trustworthy ideas that agree with the teaching, in order that he may be able both to exhort in sound instruction and to confute opponents. 10 For there are many, insubordinate gabblers and delusionists, especially those of the circumcision, 11 whom one must silence,—people who wreck whole families, teaching from mercenary motives what ought not to be taught. 12 One of them, a prophet of their very own, said
“The Cretans, ever liars, vile cattle, idle maws.” 13 This testimony is a true one. For which reason show up their errors rigorously in order that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not giving their attention to Jewish fictions and the commandments of human beings who turn their backs on the truth. 15 Everything is clean for clean men; but for polluted unbelievers nothing is clean, but both their mind and their conscience are polluted. 16** They avow that they know God, but in their acts they disavow it, being abominated and disobedient and worthless for any good purpose.