3Finally, 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. ²And pray that we will be saved from sinful and evil people. Not everyone is a believer.

³But the Lord is faithful. He will strengthen you. He will guard you from the evil one.

⁴We 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.

⁵May 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

⁶Brothers and sisters, here is a command we give you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Keep away from every believer who doesn’t want to work. Keep away from anyone who doesn’t live up to the teaching you received from us.

⁷You know how you should follow our example. We worked when we were with you. ⁸We 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.

⁹We 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. ¹⁰Even when we were with you, we gave you a rule. We said, “Anyone who will not work will not eat.”

¹¹We hear that some people among you don’t want to work. They aren’t really busy. Instead, they are bothering others. ¹²We belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. So we strongly command people like that to settle down. They have to earn the food they eat.

¹³Brothers and sisters, don’t ever get tired of doing the right thing.

¹⁴Keep an eye on anyone who doesn’t obey the directions in our letter. Watch that person closely. Have nothing to do with him. Then he will feel ashamed. ¹⁵But don’t think of him as an enemy. Instead, warn him as a brother or sister.

Final Greetings

¹⁶May the Lord who gives peace give you peace at all times and in every way. May the Lord be with all of you.

¹⁷I, 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.

¹⁸May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Read in Logos