¹⁶ If any woman who is a believer has widows in her family, she should ·care for [provide support for] them herself. The church should not ·have to care for them [^Lcarry this burden]. Then it will be able to ·take care of [support] those who are truly widows.

¹⁷ The elders who lead the church well should receive ·double honor [or both honor and remuneration; ^Cprobably includes both respect and financial support; see v. 3], especially those who work hard by ·speaking [preaching] and teaching, ¹⁸ because the Scripture says: “When an ox is ·working in the grain [threshing], do not ·cover its mouth to keep it from eating [muzzle it; Deut. 25:4],” and “A worker ·should be given his pay [deserves his wages; ^Tis worthy of his hire; Luke 10:7].”