^2:3Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes⁶ and the man of lawlessness⁷ is revealed, the son of destruction.⁸^2:4He⁹ opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat¹⁰ in God’s temple, displaying himself as God.¹¹^2:5Surely you recall¹² that I used to tell you these things while I was still with you. ^2:6And so¹³ you know what holds him back,¹⁴ so that he will be revealed in his own time. ^2:7For the hidden power of lawlessness¹⁵ is already at work. However, the one who holds him back¹⁶ will do so until he is taken out of the way, ^2:8and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord¹⁷ will destroy by the breath of his mouth and wipe out by the manifestation of his arrival. ^2:9The arrival of the lawless one¹⁸ will be by Satan’s working with all kinds of miracles¹⁹ and signs and false wonders,

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Footnotes

6 Grk “for unless the rebellion comes first.” The clause about “the day” is understood from v. 2.
7 Most (A D F G Ψ 𝔐 lat sy) read ἁμαρτίας (hamartias, “of sin”) here, but several important (א B 0278 6 81 1739 1881 co) read ἀνομίας (anomias, “of lawlessness”). Although external support for ἁμαρτίας is broader, the generally earlier and better witnesses are on the side of ἀνομίας. Internally, since ἁμαρτία (hamartia, “sin”) occurs nearly ten times as often as ἀνομία (anomia, “lawlessness”) in the corpus Paulinum, scribes would be expected to change the text to the more familiar term. At the same time, the mention of ἀνομία in v. 7 and ὁ ἄνομος (ho anomos, “the lawless one”) in v. 8, both of which look back to v. 3, may have prompted scribes to change the text toward ἀνομίας. The internal evidence is thus fairly evenly balanced. Although a decision is difficult, ἀνομίας has slightly greater probability of authenticity than ἁμαρτίας.
8 Or “the one destined for destruction.”
9 Grk “the one who opposes,” describing the figure in v. 3. A new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the personal pronoun (“he”) and translating the participle ἀντικείμενος (antikeimenos) as a finite verb.
10 Allusions to Isa 14:13–14; Dan 11:36; Ezek 28:2–9 respectively.
11 Grk “that he is God.”
12 Grk “You do remember, don’t you?”
13 Grk “and now,” but this shows the logical result of his previous teaching.
14 Grk “the thing that restrains.”
15 Grk “the mystery of lawlessness.” In Paul “mystery” often means “revealed truth, something formerly hidden but now made widely known,” but that does not make sense with the verb of this clause (“to be at work, to be active”).
16 Grk “the one who restrains.” This gives a puzzling contrast to the impersonal phrase in v. 6 (“the thing that restrains”). The restraint can be spoken of as a force or as a person. Some have taken this to mean the Roman Empire in particular or human government in general, since these are forces that can also be seen embodied in a person, the emperor or governing head. But apocalyptic texts like Revelation and Daniel portray human government of the end times as under Satanic control, not holding back his influence. Also the power to hold back Satanic forces can only come from God. So others understand this restraint to be some force from God: the preaching of the gospel or the working of the Holy Spirit through God’s people.
17 Several important witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western traditions, as well as many other witnesses, read Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous, “Jesus”) after κύριος (kurios, “Lord”; so א A D* F G Lc P Ψ 0278 33 81 104 365 1241 2464 latt sy co). But there is sufficient evidence in the Alexandrian tradition for the shorter reading (B 1739 1881), supported by the Byzantine text as well as Irenaeus. Although it is possible that scribes overlooked Ἰησοῦς if the two nomina sacra occurred together (Κ ΣΙ Σ), since “the Lord Jesus” is a frequent enough appellation, it looks to be a motivated reading. places Ἰησοῦς in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.
18 Grk “whose coming,” referring to the lawless one. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek construction, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
19 Grk “every miracle.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Let no one 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, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie,

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits in God’s temple, proclaiming that he himself is God.

Don’t you remember that when I was still with you I used to tell you about this? And you know what currently restrains him, so that he will be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one now restraining will do so until he is out of the way, and then the lawless one will be revealed. The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of his mouth and will bring him to nothing at the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is based on Satan’s working, with every kind of miracle, both signs and wonders serving the lie,

NLTNew Living Translation

Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction. He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.

Don’t you remember that I told you about all this when I was with you? And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes. For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.

This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Do 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, who 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.

Do you not remember that while we were still with you, we were saying these things to you? And you know that which restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is at work already; only the one who now restrains will do so until he is out of the way, and 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, whose coming is in accordance with the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders,

KJV 1900King James Version

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

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