5 May the Lord lead you into a greater understanding of God's love and the endurance that is given by Christ.
6 Our friends, we command you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to keep away from all believers who are living a lazy life and who do not follow the instructions that we gave them.
7 You yourselves know very well that you should do just what we did. We were not lazy when we were with you.
8 We did not accept anyone's support without paying for it. Instead, we worked and toiled; we kept working day and night so as not to be an expense to any of you.
9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to demand our support; we did it to be an example for you to follow.
10 While we were with you, we used to tell you, “Whoever refuses to work is not allowed to eat.”
11 We say this because we hear that there are some people among you who live lazy lives and who do nothing except meddle in other people's business.