3:1 We make a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, he desires to do a fine work. |
3:2 An overseer, then, must live above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, |
3:3 not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. |
3:4 He must manage his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity |
3:5 (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), |
3:6 and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. |
3:7 And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. |
3:8 Deacons likewise must behave with dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, |
3:9 but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. |
3:10 These men must also first submit to testing; then let them serve as deacons if they prove beyond reproach. |
3:11 Women must likewise show dignity, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things. |
3:12 Deacons must have only one wife, and good managers of their children and their own households. |
3:13 For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith in Christ Jesus. |
3:14 I write these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; |
3:15 but in case something delays me, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. |
3:16 By common confession, great we regard the mystery of godliness: He who revealed Himself in the flesh, Received vindication in the Spirit, Viewed by angels,Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory. |