6 ^r“For you are a people ^sholy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has ^tchosen you to be ^ua people for his treasured possession, ^vout of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord ^wloves you and is keeping ^xthe oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the ^yfaithful God who ^zkeeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 10 and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. 11 You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.

Greeting

1 Paul, a ^aservant¹ of God and an ^bapostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s ^celect and their ^dknowledge of the truth, ^ewhich accords with godliness, 2 in ^fhope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, ^gpromised before the ages began² 3 and ^hat the proper time ⁱmanifested in his word³ through the preaching with which I have been ^jentrusted ^kby the command of God our Savior;

4 To ^lTitus, ^mmy true child in a common faith:

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications for Elders

5 ⁿThis is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and ^oappoint ^pelders in every town as I directed you— 6 ^qif anyone is above reproach, ^rthe husband of one wife,⁴ and his children are believers⁵ and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an ^soverseer,⁶ as God’s ^tsteward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or ^uquick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in ^vsound⁷ doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

10 For there are many who are insubordinate, ^wempty talkers and deceivers, especially those of ^xthe circumcision party.⁸ 11 They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for ^yshameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 ^zOne of the Cretans,⁹ a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”¹⁰ 13 ^aThis testimony is true. Therefore ^brebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not devoting themselves to Jewish ^cmyths and the ^dcommands of people who turn away from the truth. 15 To the pure, ^eall things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^ftheir minds and their ^gconsciences are defiled. 16 ^hThey profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

Behold, the Lamb of God

29 ^pThe next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, ^qthe Lamb of God, who ^rtakes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ^sbefore me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John ^tbore witness: ^u“I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize ^vwith water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes ^wwith the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the ^xSon¹ of God.”