⁹ Let a widow be put on the list if she is not less than sixty years old and has been married only once;^[a]

² Now a bishop^[a] must be above reproach, married only once,^[b] temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, an apt teacher,^(A)

¹¹ But refuse to put younger widows on the list, for when their sensual desires alienate them from Christ, they want to marry,

¹⁴ So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, and manage their households, so as to give the adversary no occasion to revile us.^(A)

³ Honor widows who are really widows. ⁴ If a widow has children or grandchildren, they should first learn their religious duty to their own family and make some repayment to their parents, for this is pleasing in God’s sight.^(A)

¹² Let deacons be married only once,^[a] and let them manage their children and their households well;

³⁹ A wife is bound as long as her husband lives. But if the husband dies,^[a] she is free to marry anyone she wishes, only in the Lord.^{(A) 40} But in my opinion she is more blessed if she remains as she is. And I think that I, too, have the Spirit of God.

¹⁰ To the married I give this command—not I but the Lord—that the wife should not separate from her husband^{(A) 11} (but if she does separate, let her remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband) and that the husband should not divorce his wife.

³⁶ There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,^{(A) 37} then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day.^(B)