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This is a true saying: If a man desire the office of bishop, he desireth a good work.

A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt at teaching;

not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;

one who ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all dignity.

(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)

He must not be a novice in the faith, lest being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil.

Moreover he must have a good reputation with those who are outsiders, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

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Qualifications for Overseers and Deacons

Here is a trustworthy saying:(A) Whoever aspires to be an overseer(B) desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach,(C) faithful to his wife,(D) temperate,(E) self-controlled, respectable, hospitable,(F) able to teach,(G) not given to drunkenness,(H) not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome,(I) not a lover of money.(J) He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full[a] respect.(K) (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)(L) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited(M) and fall under the same judgment(N) as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders,(O) so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.(P)

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Timothy 3:4 Or him with proper