An Original Translation of the Book of

Titus
by
Josh James
© 2011, Josh James. All Rights Reserved.
From Paul, God’s servant, an apostle of Jesus the Messiah for the benefit of
the faith of God’s chosen ones and the knowledge of the truth that is in
keeping with godliness, because of the hope of eternal life, which God (who
cannot lie) promised before the world began. He revealed his message at the
proper time using preaching, and I was entrusted with this word by the
command of God our Savior.

To Titus, my true child because of our common faith: grace and peace from
God our Father and Jesus the Messiah our Savior.

I left you in Crete for this reason: that you might set right what is
out of order and appoint elders in every city like I directed you to do.
An elder must be blameless; he must have one wife, as well as faithful
children who are not guilty of being reckless or rebellious. You see, it
is necessary that an overseer should be blameless as one of God’s
administrators—not stubborn, hot-tempered, or addicted to wine; not
intimidating or shamelessly greedy. On the contrary, he must be
hospitable, love what is good, and be sensible, fair, pure, and self-
controlled. He must hold tightly to the message consistent with the
doctrine of faith, so that he can be able to encourage with healthy
teaching and convince those who oppose it.
You see, there are many—especially those who are from the
party of circumcision—who are disobedient, who talk idly and
mislead. It is necessary to silence them, because such people destroy
entire houses by teaching things that they should not teach, just for
the sake of shameful profit. One of their own prophets said, “Cretans
are liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true.
Because of this, rebuke them severely, so that they may be correct
with regard to the faith and not hold on to Jewish myths and human
commands by rejecting the truth. Everything is clean to those who
are clean. However, nothing is clean to those who are filthy and
unfaithful. On the contrary, even their mind and conscience are
filthy! They claim to know God, but they deny him by what they do.
They have become disgusting and disobedient—unfit for any good
work.
On the other hand, you need to say what is fitting for healthy
teaching. Tell the older men to be level-headed, respectable, sensible,
and healthy with regard to faith, love, and patience. Likewise, tell
the older women to be reverent in their behavior—not gossipers or
enslaved to excessive wine, but rather teachers of what is good, so
that they might mentor the younger women to be affectionate toward
their husbands and children, to be sensible, pure, carry out household
duties, be good, and to submit to their husbands, so that God’s word
is not blasphemed. Likewise, encourage younger men to be sensible.
Present yourself as an example of good actions in everything. Be
pure in your teaching, be respectful, and use healthy speech that
cannot be condemned, so that whoever opposes us will be put to
shame because he has nothing bad to say about us. Tell servants to
be submissive to their masters in everything, to do satisfactory work
without opposition, and not to hold back. On the contrary, they
should demonstrate perfectly good faith, so that in everything they
may do justice to the teaching of God our Savior.
You see, God’s saving grace has appeared to all men. It teaches
us to live sensibly, fairly, and godly in this current world by saying no
to ungodliness and worldly desires. It teaches us to look forward to
the blessed fulfillment of our hope—the glorious appearance of our
great God and Savior, Jesus the Messiah! He gave himself for us, so
that he might redeem us from all of our offenses and purify a chosen
nation for himself that is zealous for good things to do. Say these
things to them. Encourage and rebuke them with all authority. Let
no one look down on you.
Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to obey
them, and to be ready for every good work. Remind them not to
slander anyone or be argumentative; to be tolerant and display
complete humility toward all men. You see, at one time we also
were foolish, disobedient, deceived, and we served various kinds of
desires and pleasures. We spent our lives in wickedness and jealousy;
we were despicable and hated one another. However, when that
goodness and love of mankind appeared from God our Savior, it was
not based on actions that we had done with righteousness. On the
contrary, he saved us because of his mercy by the bath that brought
about the rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit. He richly poured
out this Spirit over us through our Savior, Jesus the Messiah, so that
after we had been justified by that grace, we might become heirs with
reference to the hope of eternal life.
The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these
things, so that those who have set their hope in God may pay
attention and show concern for doing good things. This is good and
beneficial to other people. However, you must avoid foolish
controversies, genealogies, strife, and arguments about the Law,
because these are useless and worthless. Dismiss a divisive person
after the first and second warnings, understanding that this kind of
person is going the wrong way. He is sinning and condemning
himself.
When I send Artemus or Tychicus to you, hurry to come to me in
Nicopolis, because I have decided to spend the winter there. Send
Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way in a hurry, so that they
may lack nothing. May our people learn to show concern for doing
good things—to meet urgent needs so that they are not unproductive!
All who are with me greet you. Greet those who consider us
friends in the faith. May grace be with all of you.
From the translator:

Thank you so much for reading this translation

of the book of Titus. I hope it has been of help to your
study of God’s word. Be sure to look for other
translated New Testament books as they are finished
and published on this website.

Josh James