Prophet Haggai; Holy Empress and Wonderworker Theophano (893); Modestos, Archbishop of Jerusalem

I left you in Crete for this reason, that you would set in order the things that 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 word which is according to the teaching, that he may be able to exhort in the sound doctrine, and to convict those who contradict him.

¹⁰For there are also many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, ¹¹whose mouths must be stopped: men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for dishonest gain’s sake. ¹²One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and idle gluttons.” ¹³This testimony is true. For this cause, reprove them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, ¹⁴not paying attention to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn away from the truth.

They kept this saying to themselves, questioning what the “rising from the dead” meant.

¹¹They asked him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

¹²He said to them, “Elijah indeed comes first, and restores all things. How is it written about the Son of Man, that he should suffer many things and be despised? ¹³But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they have also done to him whatever they wanted to, even as it is written about him.”

¹⁴Coming to the disciples, he saw a great multitude around them, and scribes questioning them. ¹⁵Immediately all the multitude, when they saw him, were greatly amazed, and running to him, greeted him.