ለጸሎት የቀረበ ጥያቄ
1በቀረውስ ወንድሞች ሆይ፤ በእናንተ ዘንድ እንደ ሆነው የጌታ ቃል በፍጥነት እንዲሠራጭና እንዲከበር ለእኛ ጸልዩልን፤ 2ደግሞም ሰው ሁሉ እምነት ያለው ስለማይሆን ከዐመፀኞችና ከክፉ ሰዎች እንድንድን ጸልዩልን። 3ጌታ ግን ታማኝ ነው፤ እርሱም ያበረታችኋል፤ ከክፉውም ይጠብቃችኋል። 4እኛ ያዘዝናችሁን አሁን አደረጋችሁ፤ ወደ ፊትም እንደምታደርጉ በጌታ እንታመናለን። 5ጌታ ልባችሁን ወደ እግዚአብሔር ፍቅርና ወደ ክርስቶስ ጽናት ይምራው።
ሥራ መፍታት እንደማይገባ የተሰጠ ማስጠንቀቂያ
6ወንድሞች ሆይ፤ ሥራ ፈት ከሆነና ከእኛ በተቀበላችሁት ትምህርት3፥6 ወይም ወግ መሠረት ከማይኖር ወንድም እንድትርቁ በጌታ በኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ስም እናዝዛችኋለን፤ 7የእኛን ምሳሌ እንዴት መከተል እንደሚገባችሁ እናንተ ራሳችሁ ታውቃላችሁና። ከእናንተ ጋር በነበርንበት ጊዜ ሥራ ፈቶች አልነበርንም፤ 8ደግሞም የማንንም እንጀራ በነጻ አልበላንም፤ ነገር ግን ከእናንተ በአንዳችሁም ላይ ሸክም እንዳንሆን ሌሊትና ቀን እንደክምና እንሠራ ነበር፤ 9ይህን ያደረግነው ምሳሌነታችንን እንድትከተሉ ብለን እንጂ የሚያስፈልገንን ነገር ከእናንተ ለማግኘት ሥልጣን ሳይኖረን ቀርቶ አይደለም። 10ከእናንተ ጋር በነበርንበት ጊዜ፣ “ሊሠራ የማይወድድ አይብላ” ብለን ይህን ትእዛዝ ሰጥተናችሁ ነበርና። 11ከእናንተ አንዳንዶች ሥራ ፈቶች እንደ ሆኑ ሰምተናል፤ እነርሱም ያለ ሥራ እየዞሩ በሰው ጕዳይ ጣልቃ የሚገቡ ናቸው። 12እንደዚህ ያሉ ሰዎች ተግተው ሥራቸውን እንዲሠሩና እንጀራቸውን እንዲበሉ በጌታ በኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ስም እናዝዛቸዋለን፤ እንመክራቸዋለንም። 13እናንተ ግን ወንድሞች ሆይ፤ መልካም ሥራን ከመሥራት ከቶ አትታክቱ።
14በዚህ መልእክት ላይ ላለው ቃላችን የማይታዘዝ ማንም ቢኖር፣ እንደዚህ ያለውን ሰው በጥንቃቄ ተከታተሉት፤ በሥራውም እንዲያፍር ከእርሱ ጋር አትተባበሩ። 15ሆኖም እንደ ወንድም ገሥጹት እንጂ እንደ ጠላት አትቍጠሩት።
የመጨረሻ ሰላምታ
16የሰላም ጌታ ራሱ በሁሉም ነገር ዘወትር ሰላም ይስጣችሁ። ጌታ ከሁላችሁ ጋር ይሁን።
17ይህን ሰላምታ በገዛ እጄ የጻፍሁት እኔ ጳውሎስ ነኝ፤ የመልእክቶቼም ሁሉ መለያ ይህ ነው፤ አጻጻፌም እንደዚህ ነው።
18የጌታችን የኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ጸጋ ከሁላችሁ ጋር ይሁን።
Request for prayer
1As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honoured, just as it was with you. 2And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. 3But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. 4We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. 5May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.
Warning against idleness
6In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching3:6 Or tradition you received from us. 7For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, labouring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. 10For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.’
11We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat. 13And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.
14Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed. 15Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but warn them as you would a fellow believer.
Final greetings
16Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.
17I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write.
18The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
