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.