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I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,
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but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.
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A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.
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I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.
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And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.
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But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.
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Qualifications for Overseers and Deacons
Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task.
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Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
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not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
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He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect.
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(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)
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He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.
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He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.
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In the same way, deacons are to be worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain.
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They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.
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They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.
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In the same way, the women are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.
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Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.
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Reasons for Paul’s Instructions
Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that,
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if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
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Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.
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The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
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Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
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They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.
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For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,
