2 Thessalonians 2

THE MAN OF LAWLESSNESS

2Now concerning the coming^y of our Lord^z Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him: We ask you, brothers and sisters, ²not to be easily upset or troubled, either by a prophecy^Caa or by a message or by a letter supposedly from us, alleging that the day of the Lord^Dab has come.^{ac 3}Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the apostasy^E comes first and the man of lawlessness^F is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. ⁴He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god^ad or object of worship,^ae so that he sits^G in God’s temple, proclaiming that he himself is God.

⁵Don’t you remember that when I was still with you I used to tell you about this? ⁶And you know what currently restrains him, so that he will be revealed in his time.^{af 7}For the mystery of lawlessness^ag is already at work, but the one now restraining will do so until he is out of the way, ⁸and then the lawless one will be revealed. The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of his mouth^ah and will bring him to nothing at the appearance of his coming. ⁹The coming of the lawless one is based on Satan’s working, with every kind of miracle, both signs and wonders serving the lie,^{ai 10}and with every wicked deception among those who are perishing. They perish because they did not accept the love of the truth and so be saved.^{aj 11}For this reason God sends them a strong delusion so that they will believe the lie, ¹²so that all will be condemned^ak—those who did not believe^al the truth but delighted in unrighteousness.

STAND FIRM

¹³But we ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because from the beginning^A God has chosen^am you for salvation through sanctification^an by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. ¹⁴He called you to this through our gospel, so that you might obtain the glory^ao of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm^ap and hold to the traditions you were taught,^aq whether by what we said or what we wrote.

¹⁶May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved^a us and given us eternal encouragement and good hope by grace, ¹⁷encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good work and word.