11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor,(A) serving the Lord.

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10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.(A) 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope(B) for may be fully realized.

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25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor[a](A) and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 18:25 Or with fervor in the Spirit

15 I know your deeds,(A) that you are neither cold nor hot.(B) I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

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Above all, love each other deeply,(A) because love covers over a multitude of sins.(B)

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28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work,(A) doing something useful with their own hands,(B) that they may have something to share with those in need.(C)

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A sluggard’s appetite is never filled,(A)
    but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.

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22 Now that you have purified(A) yourselves by obeying(B) the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply,(C) from the heart.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Peter 1:22 Some early manuscripts from a pure heart

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken,(A) let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,(B)

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Warning Against Idleness

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,(A) we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from(B) every believer who is idle and disruptive(C) and does not live according to the teaching[a] you received from us.(D) For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example.(E) We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked(F) night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help,(G) but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate.(H) 10 For even when we were with you,(I) we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work(J) shall not eat.”

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

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Thessalonians 3:6 Or tradition

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect(A) and fear, and with sincerity of heart,(B) just as you would obey Christ.(C) Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ,(D) doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people,(E) because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do,(F) whether they are slave or free.

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12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,

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13 A sluggard says,(A) “There’s a lion in the road,
    a fierce lion roaming the streets!”(B)
14 As a door turns on its hinges,
    so a sluggard turns on his bed.(C)
15 A sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
    he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.(D)
16 A sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
    than seven people who answer discreetly.

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Saying 6

29 Do you see someone skilled(A) in their work?
    They will serve(B) before kings;(C)
    they will not serve before officials of low rank.

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26 As vinegar to the teeth and smoke(A) to the eyes,
    so are sluggards to those who send them.(B)

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17 Pharaoh said, “Lazy, that’s what you are—lazy!(A) That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’

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13 Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also busybodies(A) who talk nonsense,(B) saying things they ought not to.

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11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands,(A) just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders(B) and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

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22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance(A) from the Lord as a reward.(B) It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

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34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions.(A) 35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’

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19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears(A) and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents.(B)

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Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.(A)

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16 Therefore confess your sins(A) to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.(B) The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.(C)

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Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything,(A) to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior(B) attractive.(C)

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12 Epaphras,(A) who is one of you(B) and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you,(C) that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature(D) and fully assured. 13 I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea(E) and Hierapolis.

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