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Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit,(A) and there are varieties of services but the same Lord,(B) and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.(C) To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,(D) to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,(E) 10 to another the working of powerful deeds, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.(F) 11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.(G)

One Body with Many Members

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.(H) 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.(I)

14 Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many members yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect, 24 whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, 25 that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.(J)

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The Fruit of the Spirit

22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,(A) 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24 And those who belong to Christ[a] have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.(B) 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.

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Footnotes

  1. 5.24 Other ancient authorities read Christ Jesus

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children,(A)

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15 so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world,(A)

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17 He himself is before all things, and in[a] him all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 1.17 Or by

Qualifications of Bishops

The saying is sure:[a] whoever aspires to the office of bishop[b] desires a noble task.(A) Now a bishop[c] must be above reproach, married only once,[d] temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, an apt teacher,(B) not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, and not a lover of money.(C) He must manage his own household well, keeping his children submissive and respectful in every way, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church? He must not be a recent convert,[e] or he may be puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace and the snare of the devil.(D)

Qualifications of Deacons

Deacons likewise must be serious, not double-tongued, not indulging in much wine, not greedy for money;(E) they must hold fast to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 And let them first be tested; then, if they prove themselves blameless, let them serve as deacons. 11 Women[f] likewise must be serious, not slanderers, but temperate, faithful in all things. 12 Let deacons be married only once,[g] and let them manage their children and their households well; 13 for those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

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Footnotes

  1. 3.1 Some interpreters place these words at the end of the previous paragraph. Other ancient authorities read The saying is commonly accepted
  2. 3.1 Or overseer
  3. 3.2 Or an overseer
  4. 3.2 Gk the husband of one wife
  5. 3.6 Gk neophyte
  6. 3.11 Or Women deacons or Wives
  7. 3.12 Gk be husbands of one wife

Titus in Crete

I left you behind in Crete for this reason, so that you should put in order what remained to be done and should appoint elders in every town, as I directed you:(A) someone who is blameless, married only once,[a] whose children are believers, not accused of debauchery and not rebellious.(B) For a bishop,[b] as God’s steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or addicted to wine or violent or greedy for gain,(C) but he must be hospitable,[c] a lover of goodness, self-controlled, upright, devout, and restrained, holding tightly to the trustworthy word of the teaching, so that he may be able both to exhort with sound instruction and to refute those who contradict it.

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Footnotes

  1. 1.6 Gk husband of one wife
  2. 1.7 Or an overseer
  3. 1.8 Gk a friend of foreigners