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- ¶ THIS is a true saying: If a man desires the office of an elder, he aspires to a good work.
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- He who becomes an elder must be blameless, the husband of one wife, alert mentally, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, and apt at teaching;
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- Not given to wine, not hasty to strike, not quarrelsome, but meek, not greedy of filthy lucre;
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- One who rules well his own household and keeps his children under submission to bring them up with all purity.
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- For if a man does not know how to rule well his own household, how shall he take care of the church of God?
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- He should not be a recent convert, lest he become proud and fall into the condemnation of the devil.
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- Moreover, he must have a good report from outsiders, lest he fall into reproach and the snares of the devil.
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- ¶ Likewise deacons must be pure, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;
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- But they must uphold the divine mystery of faith with a pure conscience.
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- Let these first be examined, and then let them minister after they have been found blameless.
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- Likewise their wives must be chaste, alert mentally, faithful in all things, and not slanderers.
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- Let the deacons be appointed from those who have not been polygamous, ruling their children and their own households well.
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- For those who minister well earn good recognition for themselves and grow more familiar with the faith of Jesus Christ.
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- ¶ These things I write to you, although hoping to come to you shortly,
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- So that if I am delayed, you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
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- Truly great is this divine mystery of righteousness;
it is revealed in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory.
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