And we urge you, brothers and sisters, ¹  admonish the undisciplined, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient toward all.

For if ¹  these things are really yours ²  and are continually increasing, ³  they will keep you from becoming ⁴  ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of ⁵  knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately. ⁶ 

For the kingdom of God is demonstrated not in idle talk but with power.

Some have strayed from these and turned away to empty discussion.

The one who is lazy ¹  becomes poor, ²  but the one who works diligently ³  becomes wealthy. ⁴ 

I, the Lord, affirm that ¹  I know how arrogant they are. But their pride is ill-founded. Their boastings will prove to be false. ² 

A certain one of them, in fact, one of their own prophets, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” ¹ 

The one who works ¹  his field will have plenty ²  of food, but whoever chases daydreams ³  lacks wisdom. ⁴ 

Banish ¹  emotional stress ²  from your mind. ³  and put away pain ⁴  from your body; ⁵  for youth ⁶  and the prime of life ⁷  are fleeting. ⁸ 

O Timothy, protect what has been entrusted to you. Avoid ¹  the profane chatter and absurdities ²  of so-called “knowledge.” ³ 

Here is another way that our people ¹  can learn ²  to engage in good works to meet pressing needs and so not be unfruitful.

You must ¹  observe the Sabbath ²  rather than doing anything you please on my holy day. ³  You must look forward to the Sabbath ⁴  and treat the Lord’s holy day with respect. ⁵  You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities, and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals. ⁶ 

when those who keep watch over the house ¹  begin to tremble, ²  and the virile men begin to stoop over, ³  and the grinders ⁴  begin to cease because they grow few, and those who look through the windows grow dim, ⁵ 

But his master answered, ¹  ‘Evil and lazy slave! So you knew that I harvest where I didn’t sow and gather where I didn’t scatter?

Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you ¹  through an empty, deceitful philosophy ²  that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits ³  of the world, and not according to Christ.

Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels pass judgment on you. That person goes on at great lengths ¹  about what he has supposedly seen, but he is puffed up with empty notions by his fleshly mind. ² 

But we command you, brothers and sisters, ¹  in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who lives an undisciplined ²  life ³  and not according to the tradition they ⁴  received from us.

Lord, use your power to deliver me from these murderers, ¹  from the murderers of this world! ²  They enjoy prosperity; ³  you overwhelm them with the riches they desire. ⁴  They have many children, and leave their wealth to their offspring. ⁵ 

Also some of the Epicurean ¹  and Stoic ²  philosophers were conversing ³  with him, and some were asking, ⁴  “What does this foolish babbler ⁵  want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.” ⁶  (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) ⁷