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Remember our example: everyone should do his fair share of work

6-12 One further order we must give you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: don’t associate with the brother whose life is undisciplined, and who despises the teaching we gave him. You know well that we ourselves are your examples here, and that our lives among you were never undisciplined. We did not eat anyone’s food without paying for it. In fact we toiled and laboured night and day to avoid being the slightest expense to any of you. This was not because we had no right to ask our necessities of you, but because we wanted to set you an example. When we were actually with you we gave you this principle to work on: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” 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. 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.

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10 For even when we were with you,(A) we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work(B) shall not eat.”

11 We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies.(C) 12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ(D) to settle down and earn the food they eat.(E)

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