001:001 Paul, a bondservant of God and an Apostle of Jesus Christ for building up the faith of God's own people and spreading a full knowledge of the truths of religion,

001:002 in hope of the Life of the Ages which God, who is never false to His word, promised before the commencement of the Ages.

001:003 And at the appointed time He clearly made known His Message
in the preaching with which I was entrusted by the command
of God our Saviour:

001:004 To Titus my own true child in our common faith.
May grace and peace be granted to you from God the Father
and Christ Jesus our Saviour.

001:005 I have left you behind in Crete in order that you may set
right the things which still require attention, and appoint
Elders in every town, as I directed you to do;

001:006 wherever there is a man of blameless life, true to his one wife,
having children who are themselves believers and are free
from every reproach of profligacy or of stubborn self-will.

001:007 For, as God's steward, a minister must be of blameless life,
not over-fond of having his own way, not a man of a passionate
temper nor a hard drinker, not given to blows nor greedy of gain,

001:008 but hospitable to strangers, a lover of goodness, sober-minded, upright, saintly, self-controlled;

001:009 holding fast to the faithful Message which he has received,
so that he may be well qualified both to encourage others
with sound teaching and to reply successfully to opponents.

001:010 For there are many that spurn authority—idle, talkative and
deceitful persons, who, for the most part, are adherents
of the Circumcision.

001:011 You must stop the mouths of such men, for they overthrow
the faith of whole families, teaching what they ought not,
just for the sake of making money.

001:012 One of their own number—a Prophet who is a countryman of theirs—
has said, "Cretans are always liars, dangerous animals,
idle gluttons."

001:013 This testimony is true. Therefore sternly denounce them,
that they may be robust in their faith,

001:014 and not give attention to Jewish legends and the maxims of men
who turn their backs on the truth.

001:015 To the pure everything is pure; but to the polluted and unbelieving
nothing is pure, but on the contrary their very minds and
consciences are polluted.

001:016 They profess to know God; but in their actions they disown Him,
and are detestable and disobedient men, and for any good work
are utterly useless.

002:001 But as for you, you must speak in a manner that befits
wholesome teaching.

002:002 Exhort aged men to be temperate, grave, sober-minded, robust in
their faith, their love and their patience.

002:003 In the same way exhort aged women to let their conduct be such as becomes consecrated persons. They must not be slanderers nor enslaved to wine-drinking. They must be teachers of what is right.

002:004 They should school the young women to be affectionate to their husbands and to their children, to be sober-minded, pure in their lives,

002:005 industrious in their homes, kind, submissive to their husbands, so that the Christian teaching may not be exposed to reproach.

002:006 In the same way exhort the younger men to be discreet,

002:007 and above all make your own life a pattern of right conduct, having in your teaching no taint of insincerity, but a serious tone,

002:008 and healthy language which no one can censure, so that our opponents may feel ashamed at having nothing evil to say against us.

002:009 Exhort slaves to be always obedient to their owners, and to give them satisfaction in everything, not contradicting and not pilfering,

002:010 but manifesting perfect fidelity and kind feeling, in order to bring
honour to the teaching of our Saviour, God, in all things.

002:011 For the grace of God has displayed itself with healing power
to all mankind,

002:012 training us to renounce ungodliness and all the pleasures of this world, and to live sober, upright, and pious lives at the present time,

002:013 in expectation of the fulfilment of our blessed hope— the Appearing in glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ;

002:014 who gave Himself for us to purchase our freedom from all iniquity, and purify for Himself a people who should be specially His own, zealous for doing good works.

002:015 Thus speak, exhort, reprove, with all impressiveness. Let no one make light of your authority.

003:001 Remind people that they must submit to the rulers who are
in authority over them; that they must obey the magistrates,
be prepared for every right action,

003:002 not speak evil of any one, nor be contentious, but yield
unselfishly to others and constantly manifest a forgiving
spirit towards all men.

003:003 For there was a time when we also were deficient in understanding, obstinate, deluded, the slaves of various cravings and pleasures, spending our lives in malice and envy, hateful ourselves and hating one another.

003:004 But when the goodness of God our Saviour, and His love to man, dawned upon us, not in consequence of things which we,

003:005 as righteous men, had done, but as the result of His own mercy He saved us by means of the bath of regeneration and the renewal of our natures by the Holy Spirit,

003:006 which He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

003:007 in order that having been declared righteous through His grace we might become heirs to the Life of the Ages in fulfilment of our hopes.

003:008 This is a faithful saying, and on these various points I would have you insist strenuously, in order that those who have their faith fixed on God may be careful to set an example of good actions. For these are not only good in themselves, but are also useful to mankind.

003:009 But hold yourself aloof from foolish controversies and pedigrees and discussions and wrangling about the Law, for they are useless and vain.

003:010 After a first and second admonition, have nothing further
to do with any one who will not be taught;

003:011 for, as you know, a man of that description has turned aside
from the right path and is a sinner self-condemned.

003:012 After I have sent Artemas or Tychicus to you, lose no time in joining me at Nicopolis; for I have decided to pass the winter there.

003:013 Help Zenas the lawyer forward on his journey with special care, and Apollos, so that they may have all they require.

003:014 And let our people too learn to set a good example in following honest occupations for the supply of their necessities, so that they may not live useless lives.

003:015 Every one here sends you greeting. Greet the believers who hold us dear. May grace be with you all.

*****

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