6 “For ^pyou are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be ^pa people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but ^qit is because the Lord loves you and is keeping ^rthe oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, ^sthe faithful God ^twho keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 10 and ^urepays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. ^vHe will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. 11 ^wYou shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.

Greeting

1 Paul, a servant¹ of God and ^aan apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and ^btheir knowledge of the truth, ^cwhich accords with godliness, 2 ^din hope of eternal life, which God, ^ewho never lies, ^fpromised ^gbefore the ages began² 3 and ^hat the proper time manifested in his word^{3 i}through the preaching ^jwith which I have been entrusted ^kby the command of God our Savior;

4 To Titus, ^lmy true child in ^ma common faith:

ⁿGrace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications for Elders

5 ^oThis is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and ^pappoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6 ^qif anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,⁴ and his children are believers⁵ and not open to the charge of ^rdebauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer,^{6 s}as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not ^tbe arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent ^uor greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, ^vand disciplined. 9 He must ^whold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in ^xsound⁷ doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

10 For there are many who are insubordinate, ^yempty talkers and deceivers, especially those of ^zthe circumcision party.⁸ 11 They must be silenced, since ^athey are upsetting whole families by teaching ^bfor shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 ^cOne of the Cretans,⁹ a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”¹⁰ 13 This testimony is true. Therefore ^drebuke them ^esharply, that they ^fmay be sound in the faith, 14 ^gnot devoting themselves to Jewish myths and ^hthe commands of people ⁱwho turn away from the truth. 15 ^jTo the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and ^kunbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^ltheir minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 ^mThey profess to know God, but they ⁿdeny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^ounfit for any good work.

Behold, the Lamb of God

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, ^xthe Lamb of God, who ^ytakes away the sin ^zof the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ^a‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but ^bfor this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John ^cbore witness: ^d“I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and ^eit remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but ^fhe who sent me to baptize ^gwith water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, ^hthis is he who baptizes ^gwith the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son¹ of God.”