Qualifications for Overseers

1 The saying is 1trustworthy: If anyone aspires to 2the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.
2 Therefore 3an overseera must be above reproach, 4the husband of one wife,b5sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, 6hospitable, 7able to teach,
3 not a drunkard, not violent but 8gentle, not quarrelsome, 9not a lover of money.
4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity 10keeping his children submissive,
5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for 11God's church?
6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may 12become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.
7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by 13outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into 14a snare of the devil.

Qualifications for Deacons

8 15Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued,c16not addicted to much wine, 17not greedy for dishonest gain.
9 They must 18hold the mystery of the faith with 19a clear conscience.
10 And 20let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless.
11 21Their wives likewise mustd be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, 22faithful in all things.
12 Let deacons each be 23the husband of one wife, 24managing their children and their own households well.
13 For 25those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

The Mystery of Godliness

14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that,
15 if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.
16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: 26Hee was manifested in the flesh, vindicatedf by the Spirit,g 27seen by angels, 28proclaimed among the nations, 29believed on in the world, 30taken up in glory.