1Paul, 1a bond-servant of God and an 2apostle of JesusChrist, [a]for the faith of those 3chosen of God and 4the knowledge of the truth which is 5according to godliness,
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in 6the hope of eternallife, whichGod, 7whocannotlie, 8promised[b]9longagesago,
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but 10at the propertimemanifested, even His word, in 11the proclamation12with which I was entrusted13according to the commandment of 14God our Savior,
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To 15Titus, 16my truechild[c]in a 17commonfaith: 18Grace and peace from God the Father and 19ChristJesus our Savior.
Qualifications of Elders
5 For thisreason I left you in 20Crete, that you would set in order what remains and 21appoint22elders in everycity as I directed you,
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namely, 23ifanyman is abovereproach, the 24husband of onewife, havingchildrenwhobelieve, not accused of 25dissipationor26rebellion.
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For the [d]27overseermust be abovereproach as 28God'ssteward, not 29self-willed, not quick-tempered, not 30addicted to wine, not pugnacious, 31not fond of sordidgain,
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but 32hospitable, 33lovingwhat is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled,
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34holdingfast the faithfulword which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be ableboth to exhort in 35sounddoctrine and to refutethose who contradict.
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36For there are many37rebelliousmen, 38emptytalkers and deceivers, especially39those of the circumcision,
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whomust be silencedbecause they are upsetting40wholefamilies, teaching41things they should not teach 42for the sake of sordidgain.
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One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, "43Cretans are alwaysliars, evilbeasts, lazygluttons."
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Thistestimony is true. For thisreason44reprove them 45severelyso that they may be 46sound in the faith,
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not payingattention to Jewish47myths and 48commandments of men who 49turnaway from the truth.
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50To the pure, allthings are pure; but 51to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their 52mind and their conscience are defiled.
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53They profess to knowGod, but by their deeds they 54deny Him, being55detestable and 56disobedient and 57worthless58for anygooddeed.