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“If Someone Aspires to Be an Overseer”
1 Trustworthy is this saying: If someone aspires to be an overseer, it is a truly honorable work that he desires.
2 It is imperative, therefore, for an overseer to be above reproach, a man who is to his wife faithful,+ temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach;
3 not given to too much wine, not a bully, but gracious, peaceable, free from the love of money;
4 his own household leading well, his children obedient under his care and conducting themselves honorably in every respect
5 (if someone doesn’t know how to lead his own household, how will he be able to give proper care and leadership to God’s assembly?);
6 not a new believer, lest he become prideful and conceited and fall into the very condemnation incurred by the devil.
7 He must have, too, a good reputation with outsiders, so that he doesn’t fall into disgrace, and a trap set by the devil.
8 Deacons, likewise, must be of honorable conduct, not two-faced, not given to too much wine, not money-hungry,
9 adhering to the mystery of the faith with a clean conscience.
10 The character and reliability of these men, too, must be tested and proven first; only then are they to serve, if they have shown themselves to be blameless.
11 Their wives, likewise, must be of honorable conduct, not slanderous, temperate, trustworthy in all respects.
12 Deacons must be men who are to their wives faithful,+ giving good and honorable leadership to their children and their own households.
13 Those who serve honorably, you see, gain for themselves an honorable standing, and great courage as a result of the faith that is found in union with Messiah Jesus.
14 These instructions I am giving you by letter, although I do hope to visit you soon,
15 so that, in case I am delayed, you will know how someone is to conduct himself in God’s household, which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.
16 Great, indeed, as we all acknowledge and profess, is the mystery of the faith:
Who appeared as a real man with a mortal nature,
was vindicated clothed in the glory of the Spirit,
was announced among the Gentiles,
was trusted in the world,
was taken up in glory.