Titus

Riverside^{(i) 1} PAUL, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to promote the faith of God's chosen and their knowledge of the truths of religion, ² in hope of life eternal, which the God who never lies promised ages ago ³ but in due time made known as his message through the proclamation with which I was entrusted by the commission of God our Savior, ⁴ to Titus my true child in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father, and from Christ Jesus, our Savior. ⁵ For this reason I left you in Crete: to arrange the things that are lacking and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, ⁶ wherever there is a man of irreproachable character, true to one woman, with believing children who are not charged with dissolute conduct and not unruly. ⁷ For a bishop, as God's steward, must be above reproach, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not given to blows, not eager for base gain, ⁸ but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, just, holy, temperate, ⁹ holding to the trustworthy message which is according to the teaching, so that he may be able also to encourage others by wholesome teaching and to refute opposers. ¹⁰ For there are many insubordinate persons, foolish talkers and deceivers, especially those who are of the circumcision, ¹¹ who ought to be silenced, for they are upsetting whole house-holds, teaching what they should not, merely for the sake of base gain. ¹² One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, base brutes, lazy gluttons." ¹³ This testimony is true. For this reason rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, ¹⁴ not giving attention to Jewish myths and rules laid down by men who are turning away from the truth. ¹⁵ To the pure all things are pure; but to the polluted and unbelieving nothing is pure. Even their minds and consciences are polluted. ¹⁶ They profess to know God, but by their deeds they disown him. They are detestable, disobedient, and worthless for any good work.