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Now we command you, believers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by His authority, that you withdraw and keep away from every brother or sister who leads an undisciplined life and does not live in accordance with the tradition and teaching that [a]you have received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined or inappropriate manner when we were with you [we were never idle or lazy, nor did we avoid our duties], nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we worked night and day [to pay our own way] so that we would not be a financial burden on any of you [for our support]; not because we do not have a right to such support, but [we provided our own financial support] to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Thessalonians 3:6 One early ms reads they.

Warning Against Idleness

Now we command you, brothers, (A)in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, (B)that you keep away from any (C)brother (D)who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For you yourselves know (E)how you ought to imitate us, because (F)we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but (G)with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was (H)not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves (I)an example to imitate.

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For the sake of the church, brothers and sisters, we insist in the name of our Lord Jesus the Anointed that you withdraw from any brother or sister who is out of order and unwilling to work, who is straying from the line of teaching we passed on to all of you. You know how essential it is to imitate us in the way we live life. We were never undisciplined nor did we take charity from anyone while we were with you. Instead, you saw how we worked very hard day and night so we wouldn’t be a burden to even one person in the community. We had the right to depend on your help and hospitality, as you know; but we wanted to give you a model you could follow, to lay a path of footprints for you to walk in.

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