5. The true widow, who is all alone, puts her hope in God and continues to pray night and day for God’s help.
6. But the widow who uses her life to please herself is really dead while she is alive.
7. Tell the believers to do these things so that no one can criticize them.
8. Whoever does not care for his own relatives, especially his own family members, has turned against the faith and is worse than someone who does not believe in God.
9. To be on the list of widows, a woman must be at least sixty years old. She must have been faithful to her husband.
10. She must be known for her good works—works such as raising her children, welcoming strangers, washing the feet of God’s people, helping those in trouble, and giving her life to do all kinds of good deeds.
11. But do not put younger widows on that list. After they give themselves to Christ, they are pulled away from him by their physical desires, and then they want to marry again.
12. They will be judged for not doing what they first promised to do.
13. Besides that, they learn to waste their time, going from house to house. And they not only waste their time but also begin to gossip and busy themselves with other people’s lives, saying things they should not say.