First ReadingTitus 1:1-9
From the Letter of Paul to Titus
1Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ,according to the faith of God’s chosen onesand the knowledge of the truthwhich is according to godliness,2in hope of eternal life,which God, who can’t lie,promised before time began;3but in his own time revealed his word in the message withwhich I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior,4to Titus, my true child according to a common faith:Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Fatherand the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.
5I left you in Crete for this reason,that you would set in order the thingsthat were lacking and appoint elders in every city,as I directed you—6if anyone is blameless,the husband of one wife,having children who believe,who are not accused of loose or unruly behavior.7For the overseer must be blameless,as God’s steward, not self-pleasing,not easily angered,not given to wine,not violent, not greedy for dishonest gain;8but given to hospitality,a lover of good, sober minded,fair, holy, self-controlled,9holding to the faithful wordwhich is according to the teaching,that he may be able to exhort in the sound doctrine,and to convict those who contradict him.