The reason I left you in Crete [Note: This was an island in the Mediterranean Sea off the southern coast of Greece] was so you could set in order the things that were lacking and appoint elders in every city [i.e., where there was a church], as I directed you.

[An elder must] not be guilty of just blame, [he must be] the husband of one wife, whose children are believers [Note: The word for "believers" may also be translated "faithful ones" or "trustworthy ones"], who have a reputation for not being wild or disobedient.

As God's manager [of the church], an overseer must be free from just blame, not a drunkard, not a fighter [and] not in love with money.

They must be silenced [because] they are upsetting entire families by teaching things they should not be for the shameful purpose of making money.

Everything is pure [i.e., ceremonially acceptable] to the person who is pure [i.e., who has been cleansed by the blood of Christ], but to those who are [spiritually] corrupt, and do not believe [in Christ], nothing is pure, but both their minds and consciences are corrupted. [Note: This statement was intended to remove the physical restrictions imposed by the law of Moses].

Older men should be sober-minded [See note at I Tim. 3:2], dignified [i.e., respectable], sensible, sound in the faith [or, "in their faith"], in their love and in their perseverance.

Older women, likewise, should be reverent in their behavior, not slanderers, not addicted to much wine, teachers of what is good.

to be sensible, [morally] pure, [good] homemakers, kind [and] in subjection to their own husbands, so that God's message will not be spoken against.

and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that the person who opposes [us] will have to be ashamed for not having anything bad to say about us.

You should teach these things and exhort and rebuke people with full authority. Do not let anyone look down on you. [See note on I Tim. 4:12].

He saved us, not because of any good deeds we ourselves had done, but because of His mercy. [He saved us] through the washing of new birth [Note: This refers to our immersion in water] and the renewing [work] of the Holy Spirit,

As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis [Note: Since there were several places by this name, its exact location is unknown], because I plan to spend the winter there.

Do all you can [materially] to send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey, so that they do not [have to] lack anything [they need].