confiding in others

¹⁶Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be saved. For the unremitting prayer of a just person prevails over many things.

¹⁸The Lord God also said: “It is not good for the man to be alone. Let us make a helper for him similar to himself.”

¹⁷Render to no one harm for harm. Provide good things, not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of all men.

³A husband should fulfill his obligation to his wife, and a wife should also act similarly toward her husband. ⁴It is not the wife, but the husband, who has power over her body. But, similarly also, it is not the husband, but the wife, who has power over his body. ⁵So, do not fail in your obligations to one another, except perhaps by consent, for a limited time, so that you may empty yourselves for prayer. And then, return together again, lest Satan tempt you by means of your abstinence.

¹In those days, as the number of disciples was increasing, there occurred a murmuring of the Greeks against the Hebrews, because their widows were treated with disdain in the daily ministration. ²And so the twelve, calling together the multitude of the disciples, said: “It is not fair for us to leave behind the Word of God to serve at tables also. ³Therefore, brothers, search among yourselves for seven men of good testimony, filled with the Holy Spirit and with wisdom, whom we may appoint over this work. ⁴Yet truly, we will be continually in prayer and in the ministry of the Word.” ⁵And the plan pleased the entire multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and with the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicolas, a new arrival from Antioch. ⁶These they set before the sight of the Apostles, and while praying, they imposed hands on them.

¹³A foolish son is the grief of his father. And an argumentative wife is like a roof that is continually leaking.

³For you, there should be no unnecessary adornment of the hair, or surrounding with gold, or the wearing of ornate clothing. ⁴Instead, you should be a hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptibility of a quiet and meek spirit, rich in the sight of God.

⁸And finally, may you all be of one mind: compassionate, loving brotherhood, merciful, meek, humble, ⁹not repaying evil with evil, nor slander with slander, but, to the contrary, repaying with blessings. For to this you have been called, so that you may possess the inheritance of a blessing.

¹A wise woman builds up her household. But a foolish one will pull down with her own hands what has been built up.

³Old women, similarly, should be in holy attire, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teaching well, ⁴so that they may teach prudence to the young women, so that they may love their husbands, love their children, ⁵be sensible, chaste, restrained, have concern for the household, be kind, be subordinate to their husbands: so that the Word of God may be not blasphemed.

²⁰Whoever keeps step with the wise shall be wise. A friend of the foolish will become like them.

²The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge. But the mouth of the senseless gushes with foolishness.