From here to verse 10, Paul refers back to his conduct while he was in Thessalonica, in order to support the statement in verse 6. The relation with verse 6 is shown in the text by an introductory “for,” which most modern translations leave unexpressed.

There is an inherent problem in the first sentence of verse 7, since you should do just what we did could refer to more than one kind of event. It could suggest, for example, that the Thessalonians were to keep away from fellow believers who were lazy, even as Paul and his colleagues kept away from them. However, this sentence refers to what follows and not to what precedes. Such a reference may be difficult in some languages, and therefore it may be better to use a term for do which suggests a general pattern of behavior or living, for example, “You yourselves know very well that you should live in the same way that we lived,” or even “… that you should work in the same way that we worked.”

Again, we were not lazy may be rendered as “we did not refuse to work.” But even this may be somewhat misleading. It could suggest, for example, some forced labor which Paul did not refuse to do. Therefore it may be useful to change the negative statement not lazy to a positive one, for example, “we worked hard.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .