1 Timothy 5

¹ Never speak sharply to a man older than yourself, but appeal to him as you would to your own father;treat younger men as brothers,

² older women as mothers and young women as sisters with al propriety.

³ Be considerate to widows -- if they real y are widowed.

⁴ If a widow has children or grandchildren, they are to learn first of al to do their duty to their own familiesand repay their debt to their parents, because this is what pleases God.

⁵ But a woman who is real y widowed and left on her own has set her hope on God and perseveres nightand day in petitions and prayer.

⁶ The one who thinks only of pleasure is already dead while she is stil alive:

⁷ instruct them in this, too, so that their lives may be blameless.

⁸ Anyone who does not look after his own relations, especial y if they are living with him, has rejected thefaith and is worse than an unbeliever.

⁹ Enrolment as a widow is permissible only for a woman at least sixty years old who has had only onehusband.

¹⁰ She must be a woman known for her good works -- whether she has brought up her children, beenhospitable to strangers and washed the feet of God's holy people, helped people in hardship or been active in allkinds of good work.

¹¹ Do not accept young widows because if their natural desires distract them from Christ, they want tomarry again,

¹² and then people condemn them for being unfaithful to their original promise.

¹³ Besides, they learn how to be idle and go round from house to house; and then, not merely idle, theylearn to be gossips and meddlers in other people's affairs and to say what should remain unsaid.

¹⁴ I think it is best for young widows to marry again and have children and a household to look after, andnot give the enemy any chance to raise a scandal about them;

¹⁵ there are already some who have turned aside to fol ow Satan.

¹⁶ If a woman believer has widowed relatives, she should support them and not make the Church bear theexpense but enable it to support those who are real y widowed.

¹⁷ Elders who do their work wel while they are in charge earn double reward, especial y those who workhard at preaching and teaching.

¹⁸ As scripture says: You must not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the corn; and again: The workerdeserves his wages.

¹⁹ Never accept any accusation brought against an elder unless it is supported by two or three witnesses.

²⁰ If anyone is at fault, reprimand him publicly, as a warning to the rest.

²¹ Before God, and before Jesus Christ and the angels he has chosen, I charge you to keep these rulesimpartial y and never to be influenced by favouritism.

²² Do not be too quick to lay hands on anyone, and never make yourself an accomplice in anybody else'ssin; keep yourself pure.

²³ You should give up drinking only water and have a little wine for the sake of your digestion and thefrequent bouts of illness that you have.

²⁴ The faults of some people are obvious long before they come to the reckoning, while others have faultsthat are not discovered until later.

²⁵ Similarly, the good that people do can be obvious; but even when it is not, it cannot remain hidden.