INTRODUCTION
1 Paul, the servant of God; the Apostle of Jesus Christ; the promoter of the faith of the elect of God; the teacher of the true religion, 2 based on the hope of everlasting life; the expounder of the promises, which the truthful God has made ages ago, 3 and has revealed at the appointed time; the preacher of the divine Gospel, accredited by the decree of God our Savior;
4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith:
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from insubordination.
PRESBYTERS
5 I left you behind in Crete expressly to remedy deficiencies and to appoint presbyters in every city, as I directed you. 6 They must be irreproachable, married only once, the fathers of Christian children, who cannot be accused of profligacy or our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
BISHOPS
7 As a steward of God, a bishop must be blameless. He must not be arrogant, nor irascible, nor a drunkard, nor violent, nor avaricious. 8 On the contrary, he must be hospitable, kindly, prudent, righteous, holy, and continent. 9 He must hold firm to the true doctrine according to the holy tradition, so that he may be able to teach it correctly and to confute those who oppose it.
THE JEWISH CHRISTIANS
10 There are many unruly charlatans and imposters, especially among the Jewish Christians 11 who must be silenced. They upset the faith of whole families by teaching them dissident doctrines for the sake of base profit.
12 A philosopher said about his own fellow countrymen: “All Cretans are liars, savage brutes, and lazy gluttons.” 13 This testimony is true for the Cretans and the Jews as well. Therefore reprove them sharply, and teach them the true doctrine. 14 Tell them not to pay any attention to Jewish myths and to commandments of men who have repudiated the true faith.
FOOD
15 Everything is pure to the pure. But nothing is pure to the corrupted and the unbelieving. For their very minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 They claim to know God. But they deny him by their actions. They are abominable, unruly, and useless for any good work.
PASTORAL DUTIES
1 Therefore it is your duty to preach the true doctrine according to the holy tradition. 2 Teach elderly men to be sober, dignified, prudent, soundly established in faith, in charity, and in patience.
3 Likewise, elderly women must be saintly in behavior. They must not be slanderers, nor heavy drinkers. They must be able teachers. 4 For they must train the young women to love their husbands and their children, 5 to be sober, chaste, good housekeepers, gentle, and submissive to their husbands. Thus the Gospel of God will not be discredited.
6 Moreover, urge the young men to be sober. 7 Show yourself always a model of good works to them. Teach them integrity, dignity, 8 sound and blameless speech. Thus our opponents will be put to shame and find no pretext to revile us.
9 Urge slaves to obey their masters and try to please them in every respect. 10 They must not be refractory and rapacious. On the contrary, they must be perfectly faithful to their masters. Thus they will render a splendid service to the doctrine of God our Savior.
CHRISTIAN LIFE
11 God has manifested his grace to all men, and taught us how to achieve salvation. 12 We must renounce ungodliness and earthly passions. We must live soberly, righteously, and piously in this world. 13 We must await blissfully and hopefully the second epiphany of our great and glorious God and Savior Jesus Christ.
14 For he offered himself in sacrifice for us. He redeemed us from all iniquity. He purified us as his chosen people. He made us zealous for noble actions. 15 Preach, urge, and insist upon these doctrines with full authority. All the believers must obey you.
CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES
1 Urge all our brethren to be submissive and obedient to the constituted authorities, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to be peaceful, gentle, and perfectly polite to all men. 3 For once we ourselves were unwise, disobedient, misguided, slaves to various passions and vices, living in malice and envy, odious, and hating one another.
4 But God our Savior has manifested his goodness and his loving kindness. 5 He saved us, not because of the righteous actions we have performed, but through his own mercy. He regenerated us through baptism. 6 He gave us a new life by pouring out his Holy Spirit abundantly upon us through our Savior Jesus Christ. 7 Thus we have been justified by his grace and have become heirs in the hope of everlasting life.
8 These are doctrines of our faith, and I want you to insist upon them. Then those who have believed in God will take care to concentrate on good actions which are helpful and profitable to all men.
9 Keep away from silly speculations, pedigrees, controversies, and contentions about the Law, which are unprofitable and futile. 10 Give a heretic a first and second admonition. Then avoid his company. 11 You can be sure that such a person is perverted, sinful, and self-condemned.
INSTRUCTIONS
12 When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come and meet me at Nicopolis. For there I have decided to spend the winter. 13 Do all you can to provide Zenas the lawyer and Apollos with what is necessary for their journey. See to it that they lack nothing.
14 Teach our brethren to practice good actions. Thus they will be enabled to help cases of urgent need and do some fruitful work.
GREETINGS
15 All my companions send you greetings. Give our greetings to all our friends in our common faith.
The grace of God be with you all. Amen.