Book of Common Prayer

3 My brothers, please talk to God about us. Ask God that the Lord's message may reach many people quickly and that they may receive it gladly as you did.

² Ask God that we may be saved from bad people who do wrong things. Not everyone believes in Christ.

³ But the Lord can be trusted. He will make you strong. He will keep you safe from all that is wrong.

⁴ The Lord makes us feel sure about you. We are sure that you are doing, and will do, what we tell you to do.

⁵ May the Lord lead you to love God and be patient like Christ.

⁶ Now, my brothers, we tell you to do this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Have nothing to do with any lazy brother who is not living the way we taught you.

⁷ You yourselves know how you should be like us. We were not lazy when we were with you.

⁸ We did not eat anyone's food without paying for it. But we worked very hard day and night because we did not want to trouble any one of you.

⁹ We have the right to be helped. But we wanted to show you what you should do in this matter.

¹⁰ Even when we were with you, we told you this, `If any man will not work, do not let him eat.'

¹¹ We hear that some of you are lazy. You do not work, but you trouble other people.

¹² We say to such lazy people, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, `Do your work quietly. Earn your own food.'

¹³ My brothers, do not get tired of doing what is good.

¹⁴ If any one will not obey what we say in this letter, look at that man and remember him. Have nothing to do with him, so that he will be ashamed.

¹⁵ Do not treat him like an enemy. Tell him, as you would tell a brother, what he should do.

¹⁶ The Lord gives peace. May he give his peace to you at all times in every way. May the Lord be with you all.

¹⁷ I, Paul, write these words of greeting with my own hand. This is the sign in all my letters that I wrote them.

¹⁸ The loving kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

¹³ `Go in by the small gate. The gate is big and the road is wide that goes to death. Many people go that way.

¹⁴ The gate is small and the road is not wide that goes to life. Not many people find it.'

¹⁵ `Take care. There are prophets who are not true. They come to you dressed like sheep, but inside they are like wolves, bad animals that kill sheep.

¹⁶ You will know them by the things they do. People do not pick fruit like grapes from thistles. They do not pick fruit like figs from thorn trees.

¹⁷ In the same way, every good tree has good fruit. But a bad tree has bad fruit.

¹⁸ A good tree cannot have bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot have good fruit.

¹⁹ Every tree that does not have good fruit is cut down and thrown into a fire.

²⁰ So you will know them by the things they do, good or bad fruit.'

²¹ `Some people say to me, "Lord, Lord". But not all who say that will go into the kingdom of heaven. Only those who do what my Father in heaven wants, will go in.