Qualifications for Overseers

¹The saying is vtrustworthy: If anyone aspires to wthe office of overseer, he desires a noble task. ²Therefore xan overseer1 must be above reproach, ythe husband of one wife,2 zsober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, ahospitable, bable to teach, ³not a drunkard, not violent but cgentle, not quarrelsome, dnot a lover of money. ⁴He must manage his own household well, with all dignity ekeeping his children submissive, ⁵for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for wGod's church? ⁶He must not be a recent convert, or he may fbecome puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. ⁷Moreover, he must be well thought of by goutsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into ha snare of the devil.

Qualifications for Deacons

⁸iDeacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued,3 jnot addicted to much wine, knot greedy for dishonest gain. ⁹They must lhold the mystery of the faith with ma clear conscience. ¹⁰And nlet them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. ¹¹oTheir wives likewise4 must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, pfaithful in all things. ¹²Let deacons each be qthe husband of one wife, qmanaging their children and their own households well. ¹³For rthose who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

The Mystery of Godliness

¹⁴I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, ¹⁵if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. ¹⁶Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:

sHe5 was manifested in the flesh,

vindicated6 by the Spirit,7

tseen by angels,

uproclaimed among the nations,

vbelieved on in the world,

wtaken up in glory.