3. Show respect for widows who really are all alone.
4. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they should learn first to carry out their religious duties towards their own family and in this way repay their parents and grandparents, because that is what pleases God.
5. A widow who is all alone, with no one to take care of her, has placed her hope in God and continues to pray and ask him for his help night and day.
6. But a widow who gives herself to pleasure has already died, even though she lives.
7. Give them these instructions, so that no one will find fault with them.
8. But if anyone does not take care of his relatives, especially the members of his own family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
9. Do not add any widow to the list of widows unless she is over sixty years of age. In addition, she must have been married only once
10. and have a reputation for good deeds: a woman who brought up her children well, received strangers in her home, performed humble duties for fellow-Christians, helped people in trouble, and devoted herself to doing good.
11. But do not include younger widows in the list; because when their desires make them want to marry, they turn away from Christ,
12. and so become guilty of breaking their earlier promise to him.