章 |
3:1 |
It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires [to do].
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3:2 |
An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
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3:3 |
not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, uncontentious, free from the love of money.
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3:4 |
[He must be] one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity
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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?);
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3:6 |
[and] not a new convert, lest he become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.
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3:7 |
And he must have a good reputation with those outside [the church], so that he may not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
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3:8 |
Deacons likewise [must be] men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain,
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3:9 |
[but] holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.
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3:10 |
And let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach.
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3:11 |
Women [must] likewise [be] dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things.
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3:12 |
Let deacons be husbands of [only] one wife, [and] good managers of [their] children and their own households.
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3:13 |
For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
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3:14 |
I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long;
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3:15 |
but in case I am delayed, [I write] so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.
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3:16 |
And by common confession great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Beheld by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.
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