Parallel Bible results for "2 thessalonians 3"

2 Thessalonians 3

New Revised Standard NRS

1 Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified everywhere, just as it is among you,

2 and that we may be rescued from wicked and evil people; for not all have faith.

3 But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.

4 And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will go on doing the things that we command.

5 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

6 Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us.

7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you,

8 and we did not eat anyone's bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you.

9 This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate.

10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.

11 For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work.

12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

13 Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

14 Take note of those who do not obey what we say in this letter; have nothing to do with them, so that they may be ashamed.

15 Do not regard them as enemies, but warn them as believers.

16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with all of you.

17 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the mark in every letter of mine; it is the way I write.

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

The Message Bible MSG

1 One more thing, friends: Pray for us. Pray that the Master's Word will simply take off and race through the country to a groundswell of response, just as it did among you.

2 And pray that we'll be rescued from these scoundrels who are trying to do us in. I'm finding that not all "believers" are believers.

3 But the Master never lets us down. He'll stick by you and protect you from evil.

4 Because of the Master, we have great confidence in you. We know you're doing everything we told you and will continue doing it.

5 May the Master take you by the hand and lead you along the path of God's love and Christ's endurance.

6 Our orders - backed up by the Master, Jesus - are to refuse to have anything to do with those among you who are lazy and refuse to work the way we taught you. Don't permit them to freeload on the rest.

7 We showed you how to pull your weight when we were with you, so get on with it.

8 We didn't sit around on our hands expecting others to take care of us. In fact, we worked our fingers to the bone, up half the night moonlighting so you wouldn't be burdened with taking care of us.

9 And it wasn't because we didn't have a right to your support; we did. We simply wanted to provide an example of diligence, hoping it would prove contagious.

10 Don't you remember the rule we had when we lived with you? "If you don't work, you don't eat."

11 And now we're getting reports that a bunch of lazy good-for-nothings are taking advantage of you.

12 This must not be tolerated. We command them to get to work immediately - no excuses, no arguments - and earn their own keep.

13 Friends, don't slack off in doing your duty.

14 If anyone refuses to obey our clear command written in this letter, don't let him get by with it. Point out such a person and refuse to subsidize his freeloading. Maybe then he'll think twice.

15 But don't treat him as an enemy. Sit him down and talk about the problem as someone who cares.

16 May the Master of Peace himself give you the gift of getting along with each other at all times, in all ways. May the Master be truly among you!

17 I, Paul, bid you good-bye in my own handwriting. I do this in all my letters, so examine my signature as proof that the letter is genuine.

18 The incredible grace of our Master, Jesus Christ, be with all of you!