Chapter 3

Overseers and Deacons

1 aIt is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the boffice of 1overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.

2 1aAn overseer, then, must be above reproach, bthe husband of one wife, ctemperate, prudent, respectable, dhospitable, eable to teach,

3 anot addicted to wine 1or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, bfree from the love of money.

4 He must be one who amanages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity

5 (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of athe church of God?),

6 and not a new convert, so that he will not become aconceited and fall into the bcondemnation 1incurred by the devil.

7 And he must ahave a good reputation with bthose outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and cthe snare of the devil.

8 aDeacons likewise must be men of dignity, not 1double-tongued, 2bor addicted to much wine 2cor fond of sordid gain,

9 abut holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.

10 aThese men must also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach.

11 1Women must likewise be dignified, anot malicious gossips, but btemperate, faithful in all things.

12 aDeacons must be bhusbands of only one wife, and 1cgood managers of their children and their own households.

13 For those who have served well as deacons aobtain for themselves a 1high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

14 I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long;

15 but 1in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how 2one ought to conduct himself in athe household of God, which is the bchurch of cthe living God, the dpillar and support of the truth.

16 By common confession, great is athe mystery of godliness:

He who was brevealed in the flesh,

Was 1cvindicated 2in the Spirit,

dSeen by angels,

eProclaimed among the nations,

fBelieved on in the world,

gTaken up in glory.