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The Message Bible MSG
1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness—
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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.
2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,
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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!
3 and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,
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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.
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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Dear Titus, legitimate son in the faith: Receive everything God our Father and Jesus our Savior give you!
5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.
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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.
6 An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.
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As you select them, ask, "Is this man well-thought-of? Are his children believers? Do they respect him and stay out of trouble?"
7 Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.
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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.
8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.
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He must welcome people, be helpful, wise, fair, reverent, have a good grip on himself,
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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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.
10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group.
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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.
11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain.
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They've got to be shut up. They're disrupting entire families with their teaching, and all for the sake of a fast buck.
12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.”
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One of their own prophets said it best: The Cretans are liars from the womb, barking dogs, lazy bellies.
13 This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith
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He certainly spoke the truth. Get on them right away. Stop that diseased talk of Jewish make-believe and made-up rules
14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth.
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so they can recover a robust faith.
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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Everything is clean to the clean-minded; nothing is clean to dirty-minded unbelievers. They leave their dirty fingerprints on every thought and act.
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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They say they know God, but their actions speak louder than their words. They're real creeps, disobedient good-for-nothings.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
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.