2 Thessalonians 3

Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will ^[a]spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you;

Now I want to talk about some other matters. Brothers and sisters, pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread quickly. Pray that others will honor it just as you did.

and that we will be rescued from ^[b]perverse and evil men; for not all have ^[c]faith.

And pray that we will be saved from sinful and evil people. Not everyone is a believer.

But the Lord is faithful, ^[d]and He will strengthen and protect you ^[e]from the evil one.

But the Lord is faithful. He will strengthen you. He will guard you from the evil one.

We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do what we command.

We trust in the Lord. So we are sure that you are doing the things we tell you to do. And we are sure that you will keep on doing them.

May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.

May the Lord fill your hearts with God’s love. May Christ give you the strength to go on.

Paul Warns Those Who Do Not Want to Work

Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you ^[f]keep away from every brother who ^[g]leads an ^[h]unruly life and not according to the tradition which ^[i]you received from us.

Brothers and sisters, here is a command we give you. We give it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Keep away from every believer who doesn’t want to work and makes trouble. Keep away from any believer who doesn’t live up to the teaching you received from us.

For you yourselves know how you ought to ^[j]follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you,

You know how you should follow our example. We worked when we were with you.

nor did we eat ^[k]anyone’s bread ^[l]without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you;

We didn’t eat anyone’s food without paying for it. In fact, it was just the opposite. We worked night and day. We worked very hard so that we wouldn’t cause any expense to any of you.

not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would ^[m]follow our example.

We worked, even though we have the right to receive help from you. We did it in order to be a model for you to follow.

For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.

Even when we were with you, we gave you a rule. We said, “Anyone who won’t work shouldn’t be allowed to eat.”

For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies.

We hear that some people among you don’t want to work and are making trouble. They aren’t really busy. Instead, they are bothering others.

Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.

We belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. So we strongly command people like that to settle down. They have to earn the food they eat.

But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.

Brothers and sisters, don’t ever get tired of doing what is good.

If anyone does not obey our ^[n]instruction ^[o]in this letter, take special note of that person ^[p]and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame.

Keep an eye on anyone who doesn’t obey the teachings in our letter. Don’t have anything to do with that person. Then they will feel ashamed.

Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but ^[q]admonish him as a brother.

But don’t think of them as an enemy. Instead, warn them as you would warn another believer.

Final Greetings

Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every ^[r]circumstance. The Lord be with you all!

May the Lord who gives peace give you peace at all times and in every way. May the Lord be with all of you.

^[s]I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write.

I, Paul, write this greeting in my own handwriting. That’s how I prove that I am the author of all my letters. I always do it that way.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.