spiritual leadership

⁹But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, an acquired people, so that you may announce the virtues of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

⁴²But Jesus, calling them, said to them: “You know that those who seem to be leaders among the Gentiles dominate them, and their leaders exercise authority over them. ⁴³But it is not to be this way among you. Instead, whoever would become greater shall be your minister; ⁴⁴and whoever will be first among you shall be the servant of all. ⁴⁵So, too, the Son of man has not come so that they would minister to him, but so that he would minister and would give his life as a redemption for many.”

⁶Yet truly, Christ is like a Son in his own house. We are that house, if we firmly retain the faithfulness and the glory of hope, even unto the end.

²¹Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. ²²Wives should be submissive to their husbands, as to the Lord. ²³For the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the Church. He is the Savior of his body. ²⁴Therefore, just as the Church is subject to Christ, so also should wives be subject to their husbands in all things. ²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and handed himself over for her, ²⁶so that he might sanctify her, washing her clean by water and the Word of life,

¹⁵Be solicitous in the task of presenting yourself before God as a proven and unashamed worker who has handled the Word of Truth correctly.

²Therefore, it is necessary for a bishop to be beyond reproach, the husband of one wife, sober, prudent, gracious, chaste, hospitable, a teacher,

¹Similarly also, wives should be subject to their husbands, so that, even if some do not believe the Word, they may benefit without the Word, through the behavior of these wives, ²as they consider with fear your chaste behavior. 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. ⁵For in this way, in past times also, holy women adorned themselves, hoping in God, being subject to their own husbands. ⁶For so Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You are her daughters, well-behaved and unafraid of any disturbance.

³So I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ. But the head of woman is man. Yet truly, the head of Christ is God. ⁴Every man praying or prophesying with his head covered disgraces his head. ⁵But every woman praying or prophesying with her head not covered disgraces her head. For it is the same as if her head were shaven. ⁶So if a woman is not veiled, let her hair be cut off. Truly then, if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off, or to have her head shaven, then she should cover her head. ⁷Certainly, a man ought not to cover his head, for he is the image and glory of God. But woman is the glory of man. ⁸For man is not of woman, but woman is of man.

⁶³Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending to where he was before?

²⁷My sheep hear my voice. And I know them, and they follow me.

²⁸Take care of yourselves and of the entire flock, over which the Holy Spirit has stationed you as Bishops to rule the Church of God, which he has purchased by his own blood.

²¹Fathers, do not provoke your children to indignation, lest they lose heart.

¹⁸Wives, be submissive to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord.

³So I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ. But the head of woman is man. Yet truly, the head of Christ is God.