8. In like manner the deacons [must be] worthy of respect, not shifty and double-talkers but sincere in what they say, not given to much wine, not greedy for base gain [craving wealth and resorting to ignoble and dishonest methods of getting it].
9. They must possess the mystic secret of the faith [Christian truth as hidden from ungodly men] with a clear conscience.
10. And let them also be tried and investigated and proved first; then, if they turn out to be above reproach, let them serve [as deacons].
11. [The] women likewise must be worthy of respect and serious, not gossipers, but temperate and self-controlled, [thoroughly] trustworthy in all things.
12. Let deacons be the husbands of but one wife, and let them manage [their] children and their own households well.
13. For those who perform well as deacons acquire a good standing for themselves and also gain much confidence and freedom and boldness in the faith which is [founded on and centers] in Christ Jesus.
14. Although I hope to come to you before long, I am writing these instructions to you so that,
15. If I am detained, you may know how people ought to conduct themselves in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and stay (the prop and support) of the Truth.
16. And great and important and weighty, we confess, is the hidden truth (the mystic secret) of godliness. He [God] was made visible in human flesh, justified and vindicated in the [Holy] Spirit, was seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, [and] taken up in glory.