How To Act toward Others
1 Don't correct an older man. Encourage him, as you would your own father. Treat younger men as you would your own brother, 2 and treat older women as you would your own mother. Show the same respect to younger women that you would to your sister.
3 Take care of any widow who is really in need. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they should learn to serve God by taking care of her, as she once took care of them. This is what God wants them to do. 5 A widow who is really in need is one who doesn't have any relatives. She has faith in God, and she keeps praying to him night and day, asking for his help.
6 A widow who thinks only about having a good time is already dead, even though she is still alive.
7 Tell all this to everyone, so they will do the right thing. 8 People who don't take care of their relatives, and especially their own families, have given up their faith. They are worse than someone who doesn't have faith in the Lord.
9 For a widow to be put on the list of widows, she must be at least 60 years old, and she must have been faithful in marriage. 10 She must also be well-known for doing all sorts of good things, such as raising children, giving food to strangers, welcoming God's people into her home, helping people in need, and always making herself useful.
11 Don't put young widows on the list. They may later have a strong desire to get married. Then they will turn away from Christ 12 and become guilty of breaking their promise to him. 13 Besides, they will become lazy and get into the habit of going from house to house. Next, they will start gossiping and become busybodies, talking about things that are none of their business.
14 I would prefer that young widows get married, have children, and look after their families. Then the enemy won't have any reason to say insulting things about us. 15 Look what's already happened to some of the young widows! They have turned away to follow Satan.
16 If a woman who is a follower has any widows in her family, she should help them. This will keep the church from having that burden, and then the church can help widows who are really in need.
Church Leaders
17 Church leaders who do their job well deserve to be paid twice as much, especially if they work hard at preaching and teaching. 18 It is just as the Scriptures say, “Don't muzzle an ox when you are using it to grind grain.” You also know the saying, “Workers are worth their pay.”
19 Don't listen to any charge against a church leader, unless at least two or three people bring the same charges. 20 But if any of the leaders should keep on sinning, they must be corrected in front of the whole group, as a warning to everyone else.
21 In the presence of God and Christ Jesus and their chosen angels, I order you to follow my instructions! Be fair with everyone, and don't have any favorites.
22 Don't be too quick to accept people into the service of the Lord by placing your hands on them.
Don't sin because others do, but stay close to God.
23 Stop drinking only water. Take a little wine to help your stomach trouble and the other illnesses you often have.
24 Some people get caught in their sins almost at once, even before the time of judgment. But other people's sins don't show up until later. 25 It is the same with good deeds. Some are easily seen, but none of them can be hidden.
Responsibilities toward Believers
1 Do not rebuke an older man, but appeal to him as if he were your father. Treat the younger men as your brothers, 2 the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, with all purity.
3 Show respect for widows who really are all alone. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they should learn first to carry out their religious duties toward their own family and in this way repay their parents and grandparents, because that is what pleases God. 5 A widow who is all alone, with no one to take care of her, has placed her hope in God and continues to pray and ask him for his help night and day. 6 But a widow who gives herself to pleasure has already died, even though she lives. 7 Give them these instructions, so that no one will find fault with them. 8 But if any do not take care of their relatives, especially the members of their own family, they have denied the faith and are worse than an unbeliever.
9 Do not add any widow to the list of widows unless she is over sixty years of age. In addition, she must have been married only once 10 and have a reputation for good deeds: a woman who brought up her children well, received strangers in her home, performed humble duties for other Christians, helped people in trouble, and devoted herself to doing good.
11 But do not include younger widows in the list; because when their desires make them want to marry, they turn away from Christ, 12 and so become guilty of breaking their earlier promise to him. 13 They also learn to waste their time in going around from house to house; but even worse, they learn to be gossips and busybodies, talking of things they should not. 14 So I would prefer that the younger widows get married, have children, and take care of their homes, so as to give our enemies no chance of speaking evil of us. 15 For some widows have already turned away to follow Satan. 16 But if any Christian woman has widows in her family, she must take care of them and not put the burden on the church, so that it may take care of the widows who are all alone.
17 The elders who do good work as leaders should be considered worthy of receiving double pay, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. 18 For the scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox when you are using it to thresh grain” and “Workers should be given their pay.” 19 Do not listen to an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or more witnesses. 20 Rebuke publicly all those who commit sins, so that the rest may be afraid.
21 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the holy angels I solemnly call upon you to obey these instructions without showing any prejudice or favor to anyone in anything you do. 22 Be in no hurry to lay hands on people to dedicate them to the Lord's service. Take no part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.
23 Do not drink water only, but take a little wine to help your digestion, since you are sick so often.
24 The sins of some people are plain to see, and their sins go ahead of them to judgment; but the sins of others are seen only later. 25 In the same way good deeds are plainly seen, and even those that are not so plain cannot be hidden.