1 Timothy 5

Do not scold a man who is older than you are. Instead, speak to him as if he were your father. Speak to men who are younger than you are as if they were your brothers.

Speak to women who are older than you are as if each one were your mother. Speak to women who are younger than you are as if they were your sisters. {When you do that,} avoid everything that might be improper. \*

As for women whose husbands have died, treat them respectfully {by taking care of them}. {I am speaking of} women who have no close relatives and whose husbands have died.

However, suppose that women whose husbands have died have children or grandchildren. In that case, those children or grandchildren should, most importantly, practice honoring their own family members {by taking care of them}. {In that way,} they will do for their parents and grandparents what their parents and grandparents did for them. That pleases God. \*

Women who have no close relatives and whose husbands have died confidently expect that God {will help them}. They persistently pray {to God} all day long.

On the other hand, some women whose husbands have died do whatever they want to do. These women are like dead people even though they are alive. \*

Require {the believers there} to do what I have just written. That way, no one can rightly accuse them of doing anything wrong.

Suppose that believers do not take care of their relatives, particularly their close family members. Those people show that they do not really trust in {Jesus}. They have sinned more than people who never trusted in {Jesus}. \*

When you add a woman whose husband has died to the list {of women that the group of believers will take care of}, here is what she must be like. She must be at least 60 years old. She must have been sexually faithful to her husband.

People must say that she does what is right. For example, she might have brought up children. She might have welcomed people from a different place. She might have cleaned the dirty feet of God’s people. She might have helped people who were suffering. In general, she must have persisted in always doing what is good. \*

However, do not add women whose husbands have died and who are still young {to the list of women that the group of believers will take care of}. These women may choose to do whatever they want instead of doing what the Messiah wants. {So that they can do whatever they want,} they will desire to marry {even an unbeliever}.

So, they have ceased to trust in {Jesus} as they used to do. Therefore, God will punish them.

In addition to that, these women may also practice avoiding work. Instead, they may visit one person’s home after another. In addition to avoiding work, they may also talk too much and interfere with what others are doing. They may talk about things that they should not talk about. \*

Because of all that, I recommend that women {whose husbands have died and} who are still young should marry again. They should have children. They should direct their own families. They should act in such a way that Satan cannot insult any believers.

{I have written those things} because some {women whose husbands have died and who are still young} are already doing what Satan wants {instead of what God wants}.

Suppose that a woman who trusts in {Jesus} has in her family some women whose husbands have died. She should be the one who helps them. That way, the group of believers will not have to provide for too many women whose husbands have died. Then, the group of believers will be able to help women who have no close relatives and whose husbands have died. \*

The leaders who rightly direct {believers} deserve to have those believers respect them and take care of them. The leaders who work hard to proclaim {the good news} and instruct others about it particularly deserve that.

{You know that this is right} because {Moses wrote} in the Scriptures: “You should not keep an ox from eating the grain when it is helping you separate grain from chaff.” Further, {Jesus said,} “Workers deserve to have people pay them for their work.” \*

When someone claims that a leader has done something wrong, you should only listen if {at least} two or three people say the same thing about that leader.

When any leaders have sinned, you should confront them {with what they have done} in front of everyone. That way, the other leaders will be afraid {to sin} too. \*

God, Jesus the Messiah, and the angels whom God has selected are listening right now {and agreeing with me} as I command you to do what I have instructed you to do. {You should do those things} fairly, without favoring one person over another.

You should not too quickly touch people {to appoint them as leaders}. When they sin, you should not approve of it. You should avoid what is evil. \*

You should not drink only water. Instead, you should have a small amount of wine. It will make your stomach feel better and reduce how often you are sick.

When some people sin, everyone knows about it before God punishes them. However, when other people sin, everyone knows about it only after {God punishes them}.

In the same way, when people do what is right, everyone knows about it. Even when people do not seem to know about it, eventually everyone will know about it. \*