2 Thessalonians 3

¹Finally, brothers, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified, just as it was among you, ²and so that we may be rescued from perverse and evil people; for not everyone has faith. ³But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. ⁴We are confident in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do what we command. ⁵May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the endurance of Christ.

⁶Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from every brother who walks in an undisciplined way and not according to the tradition they received from us. ⁷For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we did not behave in an undisciplined way among you, ⁸nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying. Instead, with toil and hardship we worked night and day so that we would not burden any of you. ⁹This was not because we have no right, but to give you ourselves as an example to imitate. ¹⁰For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: if anyone is unwilling to work, neither should that person eat. ¹¹For we hear that some among you walk in an undisciplined way, doing no work but meddling. ¹²Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work with quietness and eat their own bread. ¹³But you, brothers, do not grow weary of doing good.

¹⁴If anyone does not obey our word through this letter, take note of that person and do not associate with them, so that they may be ashamed. ¹⁵Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but admonish them as a brother.

¹⁶May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. ¹⁷The greeting is in my own hand—Paul's—which is a sign in every letter. This is how I write. ¹⁸The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Translation notes 6

3:1–3 — Running word and faithfulness. The word runs as it spreads and is glorified as people honor it. Faith and faithful preserve the contrast between unreliable human response and the Lord's reliability. The evil one can also be translated evil; the Greek form permits either. Brothers is the community's family address and includes women.

3:5 — Love and endurance. The love of God can mean God's love for them or their love for God. The endurance of Christ can mean the endurance Christ shows and shares with them or their endurance for him; patient waiting for Christ is another proposed interpretation. The compact wording leaves these relationships open.

3:6–11 — Undisciplined conduct. The repeated word family describes behavior out of order; here the concrete problem is refusal to work while living at others' expense. Walk is the conduct image. They received follows the Greek base; other manuscripts have you received. The text does not explicitly say that expectations about Jesus' coming caused the behavior.

3:8–12 — Bread and work. Bread stands for food and support. Verse 9 recognizes a right to support even though the senders chose to work. Verse 10 says unwilling to work, not unable to work. Verse 11 plays on related Greek words for working and meddling; quietness in verse 12 counters the disruptive conduct, not ordinary conversation.

3:13–15 — Doing good and discipline. Doing good is broader than earning one's own support. The command to withdraw association aims to bring shame, while the person must still be admonished as a brother rather than treated as an enemy. The text does not specify a complete procedure or define every limit of association.

3:17–18 — Own-hand greeting. The letter presents the handwritten greeting as Paul's identifying sign, corresponding to its concern about messages attributed to the senders in 2:2. This does not claim that a surviving manuscript is Paul's autograph. The Greek base ends without Amen; many manuscripts add it.