The document was marked with 10 Deletions, 10 Insertions, 0 Moves.
Titus Contemporary English Version (CEV)
Chapter 1
1From Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ.
I encourage God's own people to have more faith and to understand the truth about religion. 2Then they will
have the hope of eternal life that God promised long ago. And God never tells a lie! 3So, at the proper time,
God our Savior gave this message and told me to announce what he had said.
4Titus, because of our faith, you are like a son to me. I pray that God our Father and Christ Jesus our Savior
will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!
What Titus Was To Do in Crete
5I left you in Crete to do what had been left undone and to appoint leaders for the churches in each town.
As I told you, 6they must have a good reputation and be faithful in marriage. Their children must be followers
of the Lord and not have a reputation for being wild and disobedient. 7Church officials are in charge of God's
work, and so they must also have a good reputation. They must not be bossy, quick-tempered, heavy
drinkers, bullies, or dishonest in business. 8Instead, they must be friendly to strangers and enjoy doing good
things. They must also be sensible, fair, pure, and self-controlled. 9They must stick to the true message they
were taught, so that their good teaching can help others and correct everyone who opposes it. 10There are
many who don't respect authority, and they fool others by talking nonsense. This is especially true of some
Jewish followers. 11But you must make them be quiet. They are after money, and they upset whole families
by teaching what they should not. 12It is like one of their own prophets once said,
"The people of Crete
always tell lies.
They are greedy and lazy
like wild animals."
13That surely is a true saying. And you should be hard on such people, so you can help them grow stronger in
their faith. 14Don't pay any attention to any of those senseless Jewish stories and human commands. These
are made up by people who won't obey the truth.
15Everything is pure for someone whose heart is pure. But nothing is pure for an unbeliever with a dirty mind.
That person's mind and conscience are destroyed. 16Such people claim to know God, but their actions prove
that they really don't. They are disgusting. They won't obey God, and they are too worthless to do anything
good.
Chapter 2
Instructions for Different Groups of People
1Titus, you must teach only what is correct. 2Tell the older men to have self-control and to be serious and
sensible. Their faith, love, and patience must never fail.
3Tell the older women to behave as those who love the Lord should. They must not gossip about others or be
slaves of wine. They must teach what is proper, 4so the younger women will be loving wives and mothers.
5Each of the younger women must be sensible and kind, as well as a good homemaker, who puts her own
husband first. Then no one can say insulting things about God's message.
6Tell the young men to have self-control in everything.
7Always set a good example for others. Be sincere and serious when you teach. 8Use clean language that no
one can criticize. Do this, and your enemies will be too ashamed to say anything against you.
9Tell slaves always to please their owners by obeying them in everything. Slaves must not talk back to their
owners 10or steal from them. They must be completely honest and trustworthy. Then everyone will show
great respect for what is taught about God our Savior.
God's Kindness and the New Life
11God has shown us how kind he is by coming to save all people. 12He taught us to give up our wicked ways
and our worldly desires and to live decent and honest lives in this world. 13We are filled with hope, as we
wait for the glorious return of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. 14He gave himself to rescue us from
everything that is evil and to make our hearts pure. He wanted us to be his own people and to be eager to do
right. 15Teach these things, as you use your full authority to encourage and correct people. Make sure you
earn everyone's respect.
Chapter 3
Doing Helpful Things
1Remind your people to obey the rulers and authorities and not to be rebellious. They must always be ready
to do something helpful 2and not say cruel things or argue. They should be gentle and kind to everyone. 3We
used to be stupid, disobedient, and foolish, as well as slaves of all sorts of desires and pleasures. We were
evil and jealous. Everyone hated us, and we hated everyone.
4God our Savior showed us
how good and kind he is.
5He saved us because
of his mercy,
and not because
of any good things
that we have done.
God washed us by the power
of the Holy Spirit.
He gave us new birth
and a fresh beginning.
6God sent Jesus Christ
our Savior
to give us his Spirit.
7Jesus treated us much better
than we deserve.
He made us acceptable to God
and gave us the hope
of eternal life.
8This message is certainly true.
These teachings are useful and helpful for everyone. I want you to insist that the people follow them, so that
all who have faith in God will be sure to do good deeds. 9But don't have anything to do with stupid arguments
about ancestors. And stay away from disagreements and quarrels about the Law of Moses. Such arguments
are useless and senseless.
10Warn troublemakers once or twice. Then don't have anything else to do with them. 11You know that their
minds are twisted, and their own sins show how guilty they are.
Personal Instructions and Greetings
12I plan to send Artemas or Tychicus to you. After he arrives, please try your best to meet me at Nicopolis. I
have decided to spend the winter there.
13When Zenas the lawyer and Apollos get ready to leave, help them as much as you can, so they won't have
need of anything.
14Our people should learn to spend their time doing something useful and worthwhile.
15Greetings to you from everyone here. Greet all of our friends who share in our faith.
I pray that the Lord will be kind to all of you!