2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Contemporary English Version

Warnings against Laziness

⁶ My dear friends, in the name of^[a] the Lord Jesus, I beg you not to have anything to do with any of your people who loaf around and refuse to obey the instructions we gave you. ⁷ You surely know that you should follow our example. We didn't waste our time loafing, ⁸ and we didn't accept food from anyone without paying for it. We didn't want to be a burden to any of you, so night and day we worked as hard as we could.

⁹ We had the right not to work, but we wanted to set an example for you. ¹⁰ We also gave you this rule: If you don't work, you don't eat. ¹¹ Now we learn that some of you just loaf around and won't do any work, except the work of a busybody. ¹² So, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, we ask and beg these people to settle down and start working for a living. ¹³ Dear friends, you must never become tired of doing right.