| The Message (MSG) |
New International Version (NIV) |
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1 I, Paul, am God's slave and Christ's agent for promoting the faith among God's chosen people, getting out the accurate word on God and how to respond rightly to it.
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1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness--
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2 My aim is to raise hopes by pointing the way to life without end. This is the life God promised long ago - and he doesn't break promises!
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2 a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,
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3 And then when the time was ripe, he went public with his truth. I've been entrusted to proclaim this Message by order of our Savior, God himself.
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3 and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,
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4 Dear Titus, legitimate son in the faith: Receive everything God our Father and Jesus our Savior give you!
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4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
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5 I left you in charge in Crete so you could complete what I left half-done. Appoint leaders in every town according to my instructions.
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5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.
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6 As you select them, ask, "Is this man well-thought-of? Are his children believers? Do they respect him and stay out of trouble?"
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6 An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.
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7 It's important that a church leader, responsible for the affairs in God's house, be looked up to - not pushy, not short-tempered, not a drunk, not a bully, not money-hungry.
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7 Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless--not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.
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8 He must welcome people, be helpful, wise, fair, reverent, have a good grip on himself,
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8 Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.
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9 and have a good grip on the Message, knowing how to use the truth to either spur people on in knowledge or stop them in their tracks if they oppose it.
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9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
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10 For there are a lot of rebels out there, full of loose, confusing, and deceiving talk. Those who were brought up religious and ought to know better are the worst.
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10 For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group.
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11 They've got to be shut up. They're disrupting entire families with their teaching, and all for the sake of a fast buck.
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11 They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach--and that for the sake of dishonest gain.
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12 One of their own prophets said it best: The Cretans are liars from the womb, barking dogs, lazy bellies.
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12 Even one of their own prophets has said, "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons."
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13 He certainly spoke the truth. Get on them right away. Stop that diseased talk of Jewish make-believe and made-up rules
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13 This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith
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14 so they can recover a robust faith.
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14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth.
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15 Everything is clean to the clean-minded; nothing is clean to dirty-minded unbelievers. They leave their dirty fingerprints on every thought and act.
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15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.
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16 They say they know God, but their actions speak louder than their words. They're real creeps, disobedient good-for-nothings.
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16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
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| Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved. (The Message Bible Online) |
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |
