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.

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.

1 But as for you, teach what accords with ⁱsound¹¹ doctrine. 2 ^jOlder men are to be sober-minded, dignified, ^kself-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, ^lpure, ^mworking at home, kind, and ⁿsubmissive to their own husbands, ^othat the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a ^pmodel of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, ^qso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 ^rBondservants¹² are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

11 For ^sthe grace of God has appeared, bringing ^tsalvation ^ufor all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly ^vpassions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and ^wgodly lives in ^xthe present age, 13 ^ywaiting for our blessed hope, the ^zappearing of the glory of ^aour great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself ^ba people for his own possession who are zealous ^cfor good works.

15 Declare these things; ^dexhort and ^erebuke with all authority. ^fLet no one disregard you.