Timotheum I 3
1 Fidelis sermo: si quis episcopatum desiderat, bonum opus desiderat.
This is a faithful saying: someone who seeks to be an overseer desires a good work.
2 Oportet enim episcopum irreprehensibilem esse: unius uxoris virum, sobrium, prudentem, ornatum, pudicum, hospitalem, doctorem,
The overseer therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, modest, hospitable, good at teaching;
3 non vinolentum, non percussorem, sed modestum: non litigiosum, non cupidum, sed
not a drinker, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous;
4 suae domui bene praepositum: filios habentem subditos cum omni castitate.
one who rules his own house well, having children in subjection with all reverence;
5 Si quis autem domui suae praeesse nescit, quomodo Ecclesiae Dei diligentiam habebit?
(for how could someone who doesn’t know how to rule his own house take care of God’s assembly?)
6 Non neophytum: ne in superbiam elatus, in iudicium incidat diaboli.
not a new convert, lest being puffed up he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.
7 Oportet autem illum et testimonium habere bonum ab iis, qui foris sunt, ut non in opprobrium incidat, et in laqueum diaboli.
Moreover he must have good testimony from those who are outside, to avoid falling into reproach and the snare of the devil.
8 Diaconos similiter pudicos, non bilingues, non multo vino deditos, non turpe lucrum sectantes:
Servants, in the same way, must be reverent, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for money,
9 habentes mysterium fidei in conscientia pura.
holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.
10 Et hi autem probentur primum: et sic ministrent, nullum crimen habentes.
Let them also first be tested; then let them serve if they are blameless.
11 Mulieres similiter pudicas, non detrahentes, sobrias, fideles in omnibus.
Their wives in the same way must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, and faithful in all things.
12 Diaconi sint unius uxoris viri: qui filiis suis bene praesint, et suis domibus.
Let servants be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
13 Qui enim bene ministraverint, gradum bonum sibi acquirent, et multam fiduciam in fide, quae est in Christo Iesu.
For those who have served well gain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
14 Haec tibi scribo fili Thimothee, sperans me ad te venire cito.
These things I write to you, hoping to come to you shortly,
15 si autem tardavero, ut scias quomodo oporteat te in domo Dei conversari, quae est Ecclesia Dei vivi, columna et firmamentum veritatis.
but if I wait long, that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in God’s house, which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
16 Et manifeste magnum est pietatis sacramentum, quod manifestatum est in carne, iustificatum est in spiritu, apparuit angelis, praedicatum est Gentibus, creditum est in mundo, assumptum est in gloria.
Without controversy, the mystery of godliness is great: God was revealed in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, and received up in glory.
