1 Timothy 3 / 6
- 1
(Qualifications for Overseers)
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.
- 2
Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife,Or a man of one woman; also verse 12 sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
- 3
not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
- 4
He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive,
- 5
for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?
- 6
He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.
- 7
Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
- 8(Qualifications for Deacons)
Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain.
- 9
They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.
- 10
And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless.
- 11
Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things.
- 12
Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well.
- 13
For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
- 14(The Mystery of Godliness)
I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that,
- 15
if 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.
- 16
Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicatedOr justified by the Spirit,Or vindicated in spirit
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.