OEBcth - II Thessalonians - 3

3:1  In conclusion, friends, pray for us — pray that the Lord’s message may spread rapidly, and be received everywhere with honour, as it was among you;

3:2  and that we may be preserved from wrong-headed and wicked people — for it is not everyone who believes in Christ.

3:3  But the Lord will not fail you; he will give you strength, and guard you from evil.

3:4  Yes, and the confidence that our union with the Lord enables us to place in you leads us to believe that you are doing, and will do, what we direct you.

3:5  May the Lord bring you to the love of God, and to the patience of the Christ.

3:6  We beg you, friends, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to avoid any follower who is living an ill-ordered life, which is not in agreement with the teaching that you received from us.

3:7  For you know well that you ought to follow our example. When we were with you, our life was not ill-ordered,

3:8  nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it. Night and day, labouring and toiling, we used to work at our trades, so as not to be a burden on any of you.

3:9  This was not because we had not a right to receive support, but our object was to give you a pattern for you to copy.

3:10  Indeed, when we were with you, the rule we laid down was — ‘Whoever does not choose to work will not get to eat.’

3:11  We hear that there are among you people who are living ill-ordered lives, and who, instead of attending to their own business, are mere busybodies.

3:12  All such people we beg, and implore,, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to attend quietly to their business, and earn their own living.

3:13  You, friends, must not grow weary of doing what is right.

3:14  If anyone disregards what we have said in this letter, take note of them and avoid their company, so that they may feel ashamed.

3:15  Yet do not think of them as an enemy, but caution them as you would a brother or sister.

3:16  May the Lord, from whom all peace comes, himself give you his peace at all times and in all ways. May he be with you all.

3:17  I, Paul, add this greeting in my own handwriting. It is my signature to every letter. This is how I write.

3:18  May the blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.