| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you. | 1Finally, pray for us, brothers and sisters, that the Lord's message may spread quickly and be honored as in fact it was among you, |
| 2Pray, too, that we will be rescued from wicked and evil people, for not everyone is a believer. | 2and that we may be delivered from perverse and evil people. For not all have faith. |
| 3But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. | 3But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. |
| 4And we are confident in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we commanded you. | 4And we are confident about you in the Lord that you are both doing--and will do--what we are commanding. |
| 5May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ. An Exhortation to Proper Living | 5Now may the Lord direct your hearts toward the love of God and the endurance of Christ. |
| 6And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers who live idle lives and don’t follow the tradition they received from us. | 6But we command you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who lives an undisciplined life and not according to the tradition they received from us. |
| 7For you know that you ought to imitate us. We were not idle when we were with you. | 7For you know yourselves how you must imitate us, because we did not behave without discipline among you, |
| 8We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so we would not be a burden to any of you. | 8and we did not eat anyone's food without paying. Instead, in toil and drudgery we worked night and day in order not to burden any of you. |
| 9We certainly had the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow. | 9It was not because we do not have that right, but to give ourselves as an example for you to imitate. |
| 10Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.” | 10For even when we were with you, we used to give you this command: "If anyone is not willing to work, neither should he eat." |
| 11Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business. | 11For we hear that some among you are living an undisciplined life, not doing their own work but meddling in the work of others. |
| 12We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living. | 12Now such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and so provide their own food to eat. |
| 13As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good. | 13But you, brothers and sisters, do not grow weary in doing what is right. |
| 14Take note of those who refuse to obey what we say in this letter. Stay away from them so they will be ashamed. | 14But if anyone does not obey our message through this letter, take note of him and do not associate closely with him, so that he may be ashamed. |
| 15Don’t think of them as enemies, but warn them as you would a brother or sister. Paul’s Final Greetings | 15Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. |
| 16Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all. | 16Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you all. |
| 17 Here is my greeting in my own handwriting—Paul. I do this in all my letters to prove they are from me. | 17I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, which is how I write in every letter. |
| 18May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. | 18The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. |
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