3:1 | FINALLY, my brothers, do pray for us, that the Lord's message may go forward unhindered and may bring him glory, as it has with you. |
3:2 | Pray, too, that we may be rescued from bigoted and wicked men; for all men, alas, have not faith. |
3:3 | Yet the Lord is utterly to be depended upon and he will give you stability and protection against the evil one. |
3:4 | It is he who makes us feel confident about you, that you are acting and will act in accordance with our commands. |
3:5 | May the Lord guide your hearts into deeper understanding of God's love and of the patient suffering of Christ. |
3:6 | One order, brothers, we must give you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: don't associate with the brother whose life is undisciplined, and not in accordance with the tradition which you received from us. |
3:7 | You know well that we ourselves are your examples here, and that our lives among you were never undisciplined. |
3:8 | We did not eat anyone's food without paying far it. In fact we toiled and laboured night and day to avoid being the slightest expense to any of you. |
3:9 | This was not because we had no right to ask our necessities of you, but because we wanted to set you an example to imitate. |
3:10 | When we were actually with you we gave you this principle to work on: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." |
3:11 | Now we hear that you have some among you living quite undisciplined lives, never doing a stroke of work, and busy only in other people's affairs. |
3:12 | Our order to such men, indeed our appeal by the Lord Jesus Christ, is to settle down to work and eat the food they have earned themselves. |
3:13 | And the rest of you, my brothersdon't get tired of honest work! |
3:14 | If anyone refuses to obey the command given in letter, mark that man, do not associate with him until he is ashamed of himself. |
3:15 | I don't mean, of course, treat him as an enemy, but reprimand him as a brother. |
3:16 | Now may the Lord of peace personally give you peace at all times and in all ways. The Lord be with you all. |
3:17 | This is the greeting of PAUL, written by my own handmy "mark" on all my letters. This is how I write. |
3:18 | The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. |