Paul's Greeting to Titus

(2 Corinthians 8:16-24)

1Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of the choice ones of God, and an acknowledging of truth that [is] according to piety, 2upon hope of life age-during, which God, who doth not lie, did promise before times of ages, 3(and He manifested in proper times His word,) in preaching, which I was entrusted with, according to a charge of God our Saviour,

4to Titus — true child according to a common faith: Grace, kindness, peace, from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour!

Appointment of Elders on Crete

5For this cause left I thee in Crete, that the things lacking thou mayest arrange, and mayest set down in every city elders, as I did appoint to thee; 6if any one is blameless, of one wife a husband, having children stedfast, not under accusation of riotous living or insubordinate — 7for it behoveth the overseer to be blameless, as God’s steward, not self-pleased, nor irascible, not given to wine, not a striker, not given to filthy lucre; 8but a lover of strangers, a lover of good men, sober-minded, righteous, kind, self-controlled, 9holding — according to the teaching — to the stedfast word, that he may be able also to exhort in the sound teaching, and the gainsayers to convict;

Correcting False Teachers

10for there are many both insubordinate, vain-talkers, and mind-deceivers — especially they of the circumcision — 11whose mouth it behoveth to stop, who whole households do overturn, teaching what things it behoveth not, for filthy lucre’s sake. 12A certain one of them, a prophet of their own, said — ‘Cretans! always liars, evil beasts, lazy bellies!’ 13this testimony is true; for which cause convict them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14not giving heed to Jewish fables and commands of men, turning themselves away from the truth; 15all things, indeed, [are] pure to the pure, and to the defiled and unstedfast [is] nothing pure, but of them defiled [are] even the mind and the conscience; 16God they profess to know, and in the works they deny [Him], being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work disapproved.