1. Don't correct an older man. Encourage him, as you would your own father. Treat younger men as you would your own brother,
2. and treat older women as you would your own mother. Show the same respect to younger women that you would to your sister.
3. Take care of any widow who is really in need.
4. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they should learn to serve God by taking care of her, as she once took care of them. This is what God wants them to do.
5. A widow who is really in need is one who doesn't have any relatives. She has faith in God, and she keeps praying to him night and day, asking for his help.
6. A widow who thinks only about having a good time is already dead, even though she is still alive.
7. Tell all this to everyone, so they will do the right thing.
8. People who don't take care of their relatives, and especially their own families, have given up their faith. They are worse than someone who doesn't have faith in the Lord.
9. For a widow to be put on the list of widows, she must be at least sixty years old, and she must have been faithful in marriage.