1 Timothy 3

New Testament for Everyone

The character of a bishop

3 Here is a trustworthy saying: if someone is eager for the work of overseeing God’s people, the task they seek is a fine one. ² The bishop must be beyond reproach. He must not have more than one wife. He must be temperate, sensible, respectable, hospitable, a good teacher. ³ He must not be a heavy drinker, or violent, but must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not in love with money. ⁴ He must be good at managing his own household, with his children being subject to him with all godliness. ⁵ (After all, if a man doesn’t know how to run his own household, how can he take care of God’s church?) ⁶ He must not be a recent convert, in case he gets puffed up and falls into the devil’s condemnation. ⁷ In addition, he must have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he may not incur reproach and fall into the devil’s snare.

The character of deacons

⁸ In the same way, deacons must be serious-minded, not the sort of people who say one thing today and another tomorrow, not heavy drinkers, not eager for shameful gain. ⁹ They must hold on to the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. ¹⁰ They must first be tested; then, when they have been found without reproach, they may serve as deacons. ¹¹ The womenfolk, too, should be serious-minded, not slanderers, but temperate and faithful in all things. ¹² Deacons should have only one wife, and should be well in charge of their children and their own households. ¹³ Those who serve well as deacons, you see, gain a good platform for themselves to speak out boldly in the faith which is in Messiah Jesus.

The mystery of godliness

¹⁴ I’m writing this to you in the hope that I’ll be able to come to you in the near future. ¹⁵ But, if I’m delayed, this will help you to know how people should behave in God’s household, which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and firm foundation of the truth. ¹⁶ Indeed, the mystery of godliness is certainly great: