Pray Us Out of This Trouble
1Let me close this letter with a prayer request. Please pray that our message about the Lord will spread quickly and that people will respect it—just as you did. 2Also pray that we’ll be spared from folks who are downright evil and don’t care what’s right or wrong. 3But know this: you can count on the Lord. He’ll protect you from evil and he’ll make you strong. 4I have every bit of confidence in you too. I know that you’re doing what we told you to do. And I know you’ll continue to do it. 5Now may the Lord point you in the direction of God’s love and the Messiah’s strength.If You Don’t Work, You Don’t Eat
6Dear family, there’s something we need you to do. We’re commanding this, with the authority of our leader, Jesus the Messiah. Stay away from any believer who doesn’t have the discipline to work or to follow the teachings we gave you. 7You know you should follow the example we set when we were there. We didn’t slack off, goof off, and just hang around. 8And we didn’t eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, we worked in daylight and darkness, making the visit hard on ourselves so we wouldn’t make it hard on you.9We didn’t do this because we didn’t have the right to ask for your help. We did it to set an example for you to follow. 10When we were there with you, we gave you this rule: “Anyone who won’t work shouldn’t eat.” 11We’re reminding you about this for a reason. We’ve heard that all the work some of you are willing to do is to stick your nose in someone else’s business. 12We’re commanding this, with the authority of our leader, Jesus the Messiah: stop talking and start working. Eat your own food, which you earn from your work.
