HOLY BIBLE: 1 Timothy 3 (original) (raw)

1 Πιστὸς ὁ λόγος: εἴ τις ἐπισκοπῆς ὀρέγεται, καλοῦ ἔργου ἐπιθυμεῖ. 2 δεῖ οὖν τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ἀνεπίλημπτον εἶναι, μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἄνδρα, νηφάλιον, σώφρονα, κόσμιον, φιλόξενον, διδακτικόν, 3 μὴ πάροινον, μὴ πλήκτην, ἀλλὰ ἐπιεικῆ, ἄμαχον, ἀφιλάργυρον, 4 τοῦ ἰδίου οἴκου καλῶς προϊστάμενον, τέκνα ἔχοντα ἐν ὑποταγῇ μετὰ πάσης σεμνότητος: 5 εἰ δέ τις τοῦ ἰδίου οἴκου προστῆναι οὐκ οἶδεν, πῶς ἐκκλησίας θεοῦ ἐπιμελήσεται; 6 μὴ νεόφυτον, ἵνα μὴ τυφωθεὶς εἰς κρίμα ἐμπέσῃ τοῦ διαβόλου. 7 δεῖ δὲ καὶ μαρτυρίαν καλὴν ἔχειν ἀπὸ τῶν ἔξωθεν, ἵνα μὴ εἰς ὀνειδισμὸν ἐμπέσῃ καὶ παγίδα τοῦ διαβόλου.

1 It is well said, When a man aspires to a bishopric, it is no mean employment that he covets. 2 The man who is to be a bishop, then, must be one with whom no fault can be found; faithful to one wife, sober, discreet, modest, well behaved, hospitable, experienced in teaching,[1] 3 no lover of wine or of brawling, courteous, neither quarrelsome nor grasping. 4 He must be one who is a good head to his own family, and keeps his children in order by winning their full respect;[2] 5 if a man has not learned how to manage his own household, will he know how to govern God’s church? 6 He must not be a new convert, or he may be carried away by vanity, and incur Satan’s doom. 7 He must bear a good character, too, in the world’s eyes; or he may fall into disrepute, and become a prey to the False Accuser.[3]

1 Fidelis sermo: si quis episcopatum desiderat, bonum opus desiderat. 2 Oportet ergo episcopum irreprehensibilem esse, unius uxoris virum, sobrium, prudentem, ornatum, pudicum, hospitalem, doctorem, 3 non vinolentum, non percussorem, sed modestum: non litigiosum, non cupidum, sed 4 suæ domui bene præpositum: filios habentem subditos cum omni castitate. 5 Si quis autem domui suæ præesse nescit, quomodo ecclesiæ Dei diligentiam habebit? 6 Non neophytum: ne in superbiam elatus, in judicium incidat diaboli. 7 Oportet autem illum et testimonium habere bonum ab iis qui foris sunt, ut non in opprobrium incidat, et in laqueum diaboli.

8 διακόνους ὡσαύτως σεμνούς, μὴ διλόγους, μὴ οἴνῳ πολλῷ προσέχοντας, μὴ αἰσχροκερδεῖς, 9 ἔχοντας τὸ μυστήριον τῆς πίστεως ἐν καθαρᾷ συνειδήσει. 10 καὶ οὗτοι δὲ δοκιμαζέσθωσαν πρῶτον, εἶτα διακονείτωσαν ἀνέγκλητοι ὄντες. 11 γυναῖκας ὡσαύτως σεμνάς, μὴ διαβόλους, νηφαλίους, πιστὰς ἐν πᾶσιν. 12 διάκονοι ἔστωσαν μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἄνδρες, τέκνων καλῶς προϊστάμενοι καὶ τῶν ἰδίων οἴκων: 13 οἱ γὰρ καλῶς διακονήσαντες βαθμὸν ἑαυτοῖς καλὸν περιποιοῦνται καὶ πολλὴν παρρησίαν ἐν πίστει τῇ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. 14 Ταῦτά σοι γράφω, ἐλπίζων ἐλθεῖν πρὸς σὲ ἐν τάχει 15 ἐὰν δὲ βραδύνω, ἵνα εἰδῇς πῶς δεῖ ἐν οἴκῳ θεοῦ ἀναστρέφεσθαι, ἥτις ἐστὶν ἐκκλησία θεοῦ ζῶντος, στῦλος καὶ ἑδραίωμα τῆς ἀληθείας.

8 Deacons, in the same way, must be men of decent behaviour, men of their word, not given to deep drinking or to money-getting, 9 keeping true, in all sincerity of conscience, to the faith that has been revealed. 10 These, in their turn, must first undergo probation, and only be allowed to serve as deacons if no charge is brought against them. 11 The women-folk, too, should be modest, not fond of slanderous talk; they must be sober, and in every way worthy of trust.[4] 12 The deacon must be faithful to one wife, good at looking after his own family and household. 13 Those who have served well in the diaconate will secure for themselves a sure footing, and great boldness in proclaiming that faith which is founded on Christ Jesus. 14 So much I tell thee by letter, although I hope to pay thee a visit before long; 15 so that, if I am slow in coming, thou mayest be in no doubt over the conduct that is expected of thee in God’s household. By that I mean the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation upon which the truth rests.

8 Diaconos similiter pudicos, non bilingues, non multo vino deditos, non turpe lucrum sectantes: 9 habentes mysterium fidei in conscientia pura. 10 Et hi autem probentur primum: et sic ministrent, nullum crimen habentes. 11 Mulieres similiter pudicas, non detrahentes, sobrias, fideles in omnibus. 12 Diaconi sint unius uxoris viri, qui filiis suis bene præsint, et suis domibus. 13 Qui enim bene ministraverint, gradum bonum sibi acquirent, et multam fiduciam in fide, quæ est in Christo Jesu. 14 Hæc tibi scribo, sperans me ad te venire cito: 15 si autem tardavero, ut scias quomodo oporteat te in domo Dei conversari, quæ est ecclesia Dei vivi, columna et firmamentum veritatis.

[1] ‘Faithful to one wife’ may mean, but does not necessarily mean, that in the discipline of the early Church a re-married widower was ineligible for the episcopate.

[2] ‘By winning their full respect’; in the Greek, ‘with all dignity’; in the Latin, ‘with all holiness’ (or perhaps ‘chastity’).

[3] vv. 1-7: It is possible that St Paul means us to understand these qualifications as applying, not only to the episcopal office, but to that of a priest; he does not mention presbyters in this chapter. Cf. p. 203, note 1. v. 7: ‘The False Accuser’ is the name given in Greek to the Devil. Here the sense would seem to be, that a Christian who was an object of suspicion to those outside the Church would bring the Church into discredit, through the scandal which the Devil would attach to his name.

[4] vv. 2 and 11: ‘Modest’; in the Greek, ‘dignified’, in the Latin, ‘holy’ or ‘chaste’. v. 11: ‘The women-folk’; probably meaning the deacon’s wife and household. It may, however, imply that women were recognized in the early Church, as they were later, in the character of ‘deaconesses’, sharing in the charitable work done by the deacons. Cf. Rom. 16.1, where Phoebe is said to be a ‘ministrant’ to the church at Cenchrae.

[5] This sentence would seem to be connected with what follows, rather than with what goes before. Some think that St Paul is quoting from an early Christian hymn; cf. Eph. 5.14. The sentence is perhaps best divided into three paradoxes: Christ manifested to the world in his humanity, yet redeeming us through the dignity of his Divine Person; the Resurrection, a sight only witnessed by angels, yet published throughout the world; Christ still making his power felt here below, through the faith of his Church, although he has ascended into heaven.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd