Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

3 Here is a statement you can trust: anyone aspiring to be a congregation leader is seeking worthwhile work. ² A congregation leader must be above reproach, he must be faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, orderly, hospitable and able to teach. ³ He must not drink excessively or get into fights; rather, he must be kind and gentle. He must not be a lover of money. ⁴ He must manage his own household well, having children who obey him with all proper respect; ⁵ for if a man can’t manage his own household, how will he be able to care for God’s Messianic Community? ⁶ He must not be a new believer, because he might become puffed up with pride and thus fall under the same judgment as did the Adversary. ⁷ Furthermore, he must be well regarded by outsiders, so that he won’t fall into disgrace and into the Adversary’s trap.

⁸ Likewise, the shammashim must be of good character, people whose word can be trusted. They must not give themselves to excessive drinking or be greedy for dishonest gain. ⁹ They must possess the formerly hidden truth of the faith with a clean conscience. ¹⁰ And first, let them be tested; then, if they prove themselves blameless, let them be appointed shammashim. ¹¹ Similarly, the wives must be of good character, not gossips, but temperate, faithful in everything. ¹² Let the shammashim each be faithful to his wife, managing his children and household well. ¹³ For those who serve well as shammashim gain good standing for themselves and much boldness in the trust that comes through Yeshua the Messiah.

¹⁴ I hope to visit you soon; but I am writing these things ¹⁵ so that if I am delayed, you may know how one should behave in the household of God, which is the Messianic Community of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. ¹⁶ Great beyond all question is the formerly hidden truth underlying our faith:

4 The Spirit expressly states that in the acharit-hayamim some people will apostatize from the faith by paying attention to deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. ² Such teachings come from the hypocrisy of liars whose own consciences have been burned, as if with a red-hot branding iron. ³ They forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods which God created to be eaten with thanksgiving by those who have come to trust and to know the truth. ⁴ For everything created by God is good, and nothing received with thanksgiving needs to be rejected, ⁵ because the word of God and prayer make it holy.

⁶ If you present all this to the brothers, you will be serving the Messiah Yeshua well; it will show that you have digested the words of the faith and of the good teaching which you have followed. ⁷ But refuse godless bubbe-meises, and exercise yourself in godliness. ⁸ For although physical exercise does have some value, godliness is valuable for everything, since it holds promise both for the present life and for the life to come. ⁹ Here is a statement you can trust, one that fully deserves to be accepted ¹⁰ (indeed, it is for this that we toil and strive): we have our hope set on a living God who is the deliverer of all humanity, especially of those who trust.

¹¹ Command these things and teach them. ¹² Don’t let anyone look down on you because of your youth; on the contrary, set the believers an example in your speech, behavior, love, trust and purity. ¹³ Until I come, pay attention to the public reading of the Scriptures. ¹⁴ Do not neglect your gift, which you were given through a prophecy when the body of elders gave you s’mikhah. ¹⁵ Be diligent about this work, throw yourself into it, so that your progress may be clear to everyone. ¹⁶ Pay attention to yourself and to the teaching, continue in it, for by so doing you will deliver both yourself and those who hear you.