2Now we ask you, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to him, ²that you not be easily shaken from your composure, nor be troubled either by a spirit or by a message or by a letter alleged to be from us^a, to the effect that the day of the Lord has arrived. ³Do not let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, ⁴who opposes and who exalts himself over every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits down in the temple of God, proclaiming that he himself is God.

⁵Do you not remember that while^b we were still with you, we were saying these things to you? ⁶And you know that which restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his own time. ⁷For the mystery of lawlessness is at work already; only the one who now restrains^c will do so until he is out of the way,^b ⁸and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of his mouth, and wipe out by the appearance of his coming, ⁹whose coming is in accordance with the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, ¹⁰and with every unrighteous deception against those who are perishing, in place of which they did not accept the love of the truth, so that they would be saved. ¹¹And because of this, God sends them a powerful delusion^e so that they will believe the lie, ¹²in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but delighted in unrighteousness.

Stand Firm and Hold Fast

¹³But we ought to give thanks to God always concerning you, brothers dearly loved by the Lord, because God has chosen you as first fruits for salvation by the sanctification of the Spirit and faith in the truth, ¹⁴for which purpose he called^c you through our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵So then, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions which you were taught, whether by spoken word or by letter from us. ¹⁶Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal encouragement and good hope by grace, ¹⁷encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good work and word.

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Footnotes

aLiterally “as if by us”
bHere “while” is supplied as a component of the participle (“were”) which is understood as temporal
cOr “restrains it” (referring to the “mystery of lawlessness”; or “restrains him” (referring to the “man of lawlessness” in v. 3)
bLiterally “out of the midst”
eLiterally “a working of deceit”
cSome manuscripts have “he also called”