2 Thessalonians 3

CHAPTER 3

Disobedient Brothers

^1aFinally, brothers, ^bpray for us that ^cthe word of the Lord will ¹spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you;

²and that we will be ^arescued from ¹perverse and evil men, for not all have ²faith.

³But ^athe Lord is faithful, who will strengthen and guard you ¹from ^bthe evil one.

⁴And we have ^aconfidence in the Lord about you, that you ^bare doing and will continue to do what we command.

⁵And may the Lord ^adirect your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.

⁶Now we command you, brothers, ^ain the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you ^1bkeep away from every brother who walks in an ^2cunruly manner and not according to ^dthe tradition which ³they received from us.

⁷For you yourselves know how you ought to ^aimitate us, because we did not act in an unruly manner among you,

⁸nor did we ^aeat ¹anyone’s bread ²without paying for it, but with ^blabor and hardship we kept ^cworking night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you;

⁹not because we do not have ^athe authority, but in order to offer ourselves ^bas a model for you, so that you would imitate us.

¹⁰For even ^awhen we were with you, we used to command this to you: ^bif anyone is not willing to work, neither let him eat.

¹¹For we hear that some among you are ^awalking in an unruly manner, doing no work at all, but acting like ^bbusybodies.

¹²Now such persons we command and ^aexhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, that ^bworking with quietness, they eat their own bread.

¹³But as for you, ^abrothers, ^bdo not lose heart in doing good.

¹⁴And if anyone does not obey our word ^1ain this letter, take special note of that person ^bto not associate with him, so that he will be ^cput to shame.

¹⁵And yet ^ado not regard him as an enemy, but ^1badmonish him as a ^cbrother.

¹⁶Now ^amay the Lord of peace ^bHimself continually give you peace in every ¹circumstance. ^cThe Lord be with you all!

¹⁷The greeting ^ais in my own hand—¹Paul, which is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write.

^18aThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.