2 Thessalonians 3
New King James Version
Pray for Us
3 Finally, brethren, (A)pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, 2 and (B)that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; (C)for not all have faith.
3 But (D)the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and (E)guard you from the evil one. 4 And (F)we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you.
5 Now may (G)the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.
Warning Against Idleness
6 But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, (H)that you withdraw (I)from every brother who walks (J)disorderly and not according to the tradition which [a]he received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread [b]free of charge, but worked with (K)labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, 9 not because we do not have (L)authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us.
10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. 11 For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are (M)busybodies. 12 Now those who are such we command and [c]exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ (N)that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.
13 But as for you, brethren, (O)do not grow weary in doing good. 14 And if anyone does not obey our word in this [d]epistle, note that person and (P)do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 (Q)Yet do not count him as an enemy, (R)but [e]admonish him as a brother.
Benediction
16 Now may (S)the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all.
17 (T)The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is a sign in every [f]epistle; so I write.
18 (U)The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Footnotes
- 2 Thessalonians 3:6 NU, M they
- 2 Thessalonians 3:8 Lit. for nothing
- 2 Thessalonians 3:12 encourage
- 2 Thessalonians 3:14 letter
- 2 Thessalonians 3:15 warn
- 2 Thessalonians 3:17 letter
2 Thessalonians 3
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Pray for Us
3 Finally, brothers, pray for us that the Lord’s message may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you,(A) 2 and that we may be delivered(B) from wicked and evil men, for not all have faith.[a] 3 But the Lord is faithful; He will strengthen and guard you from the evil one.(C) 4 We have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do what we command. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts to God’s love and Christ’s endurance.(D)
Warning against Irresponsible Behavior
6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name(E) of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from every brother(F) who walks irresponsibly and not according to the tradition(G) received(H) from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you must imitate(I) us: We were not irresponsible among you; 8 we did not eat(J) anyone’s food[b] free of charge;(K) instead, we labored(L) and struggled,(M) working(N) night and day, so that we would not be a burden(O) to any of you. 9 It is not that we don’t have the right(P) to support, but we did it to make ourselves an example to you so that you would imitate(Q) us. 10 In fact, when we were with you, this is what we commanded you: “If anyone isn’t willing to work, he should not eat.”(R) 11 For we hear that there are some among you who walk irresponsibly, not working at all, but interfering with the work of others.(S) 12 Now we command and exhort such people by the Lord Jesus Christ that quietly working, they may eat their own food.[c] 13 Brothers, do not grow weary(T) in doing good.
14 And if anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take note of that person; don’t associate with him, so that he may be ashamed. 15 Yet don’t treat him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
Final Greetings
16 May the Lord of peace(U) Himself give you peace always in every way.(V) The Lord be with all of you.(W) 17 This greeting is in my own hand(X)—Paul. This is a sign in every letter; this is how I write. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.
Footnotes
- 2 Thessalonians 3:2 Or for the faith is not in everyone
- 2 Thessalonians 3:8 Or bread
- 2 Thessalonians 3:12 Or bread
2 Thessalonians 3
Easy-to-Read Version
Pray for Us
3 And now, brothers and sisters, pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s teaching will continue to spread quickly. And pray that people will give honor to that teaching, the same as happened with you. 2 And pray that we will be protected from crooked and evil people. Not everyone believes in the Lord, you know.
3 But the Lord is faithful. He will give you strength and protect you from the Evil One. 4 The Lord gives us confidence that you are doing what we told you and that you will continue to do it. 5 We pray that the Lord will cause you to feel God’s love and remember Christ’s patient endurance.
The Obligation to Work
6 Brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ we tell you to stay away from any believer who refuses to work. People who refuse to work are not following the teaching that we gave them. 7 You yourselves know that you should live like we do. We were not lazy when we were with you. 8 We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked and worked so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We worked night and day. 9 We had the right to ask you to help us. But we worked to take care of ourselves so that we would be an example for you to follow. 10 When we were with you, we gave you this rule: “Whoever will not work should not be allowed to eat.”
11 We hear that some people in your group refuse to work. They are doing nothing except being busy in the lives of others. 12 Our instruction to them is to stop bothering others, to start working and earn their own food. It is by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ that we are urging them to do this. 13 Brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.
14 If there are some there who refuse to do what we tell you in this letter, remember who they are. Don’t associate with them. Then maybe they will feel ashamed. 15 But don’t treat them as enemies. Counsel them as fellow believers.
Final Words
16 We pray that the Lord of peace will give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you all.
17 Here’s my greeting in my own handwriting— Paul. I do this in all my letters to show they are from me. This is the way I write.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International