1 Timothy 3

1This saying is trustworthy: if anyone aspires to oversight, he desires a good work.

2Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

3not given to drunkenness, not violent, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money,

4managing his own household well, having his children in submission with all dignity;

5But if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?

6He must not be a recent convert, so that he may not become puffed up and fall into the judgment of the devil.

7And he must also have a good testimony from those outside, so that he may not fall into reproach and the devil’s snare.

8Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not devoted to much wine, not greedy for shameful gain,

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

10And these also must first be tested; then let them serve, being beyond reproach.

11Women likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, sober-minded, faithful in all things.

12Deacons must be husbands of one wife, managing their children and their own households well.

13For those who have served well obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith that is in Messiah Jesus.

14I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you soon,

15But if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how one ought to conduct oneself in the household of God, which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.

16And undeniably, great is the mystery of godliness: He was revealed in flesh, was vindicated in spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.