Passage

2 Thessalonians 3.6-15

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"4. And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command. 5. And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of Christ."

"6. Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which they received of us. 7. For yourselves know how ye ought to imitate us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; 8. neither did we eat bread for nought at any man's hand, but in labor and travail, working night and day, that we might not burden any of you: 9. not because we have not the right, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you, that ye should imitate us. 10. For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, If any will not work, neither let him eat. 11. For we hear of some that walk among you disorderly, that work not at all, but are busybodies. 12. Now them that are such we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. 13. But ye, brethren, be not weary in well-doing. 14. And if any man obeyeth not our word by this epistle, note that man, that ye have no company with him, to the end that he may be ashamed. 15. And yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother."

"16. Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with you all. 17. The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write." (2 Thessalonians 3:4-17, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"4. We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you both do and will do the things we command. 5. May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love, and into the perseverance of Christ."

"6. Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother who walks in rebellion, and not after the tradition which they received from us. 7. For you know how you ought to imitate us. For we didn’t behave ourselves rebelliously among you, 8. neither did we eat bread from anyone’s hand without paying for it, but in labor and travail worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you; 9. not because we don’t have the right, but to make ourselves an example to you, that you should imitate us. 10. For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: “If anyone will not work, don’t let him eat.” 11. For we hear of some who walk among you in rebellion, who don’t work at all, but are busybodies. 12. Now those who are that way, we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. 13. But you, brothers, don’t be weary in doing well. 14. If any man doesn’t obey our word in this letter, note that man, that you have no company with him, to the end that he may be ashamed. 15. Don’t count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother."

"16. Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with you all. 17. The greeting of me, Paul, with my own hand, which is the sign in every letter: this is how I write." (2 Thessalonians 3:4-17, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"4. And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you. 5. And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ. ^{patient: or, patience of Christ}"

"6. Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us. 7. For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; 8. Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you: 9. Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us. 10. For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. 11. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. 12. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. 13. But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing. ^{be: or, faint not} 14. And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. ^{by: or, signify that man by an epistle} 15. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother."

"16. Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all. 17. The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write." (2 Thessalonians 3:4-17, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"4. and we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that the things that we command you ye both do and will do; 5. and the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God, and to the endurance of the Christ."

"6. And we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to withdraw yourselves from every brother disorderly walking, and not after the deliverance that ye received from us, 7. for yourselves have known how it behoveth [you] to imitate us, because we did not act disorderly among you; 8. nor for nought did we eat bread of any one, but in labour and in travail, night and day working, not to be chargeable to any of you; 9. not because we have not authority, but that ourselves a pattern we might give to you, to imitate us; 10. for even when we were with you, this we did command you, that if any one is not willing to work, neither let him eat, 11. for we hear of certain walking among you disorderly, nothing working, but over working, 12. and such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness working, their own bread they may eat; 13. and ye, brethren, may ye not be weary doing well, 14. and if any one do not obey our word through the letter, this one note ye, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed, 15. and as an enemy count [him] not, but admonish ye [him] as a brother;"

"16. and may the Lord of the peace Himself give to you the peace always in every way; the Lord [is] with you all! 17. The salutation by the hand of me, Paul, which is a sign in every letter; thus I write;" (2 Thessalonians 3:4-17, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Church at Thessalonica

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.