2Brothers and sisters, we want to ask you something. It has to do with the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. It concerns the time when we will go to be with him.

²What if you receive a prophecy, report or letter that is supposed to have come from us? What if it says that the day of the Lord has already come? If it does, we ask you not to become easily upset or alarmed.

³Don’t let anyone trick you in any way. That day will not come until people rise up against God. It will not come until the man of sin appears. He is a marked man. He is sentenced to be destroyed. ⁴He will oppose everything that is called God. He will oppose everything that is worshiped. He will give himself power over everything. He will set himself up in God’s temple. He will announce that he himself is God.

⁵Don’t you remember? When I was with you, I used to tell you those things.

⁶Now you know what is holding the man of sin back. He is held back so that he can make his appearance at the right time. ⁷The secret power of sin is already at work. But the one who now holds that power back will keep doing it until he is taken out of the way.

⁸Then the man of sin will appear. The Lord Jesus will overthrow him with the breath of his mouth. The glorious brightness of Jesus’ coming will destroy the man of sin.

⁹The coming of the man of sin will be Satan’s work. His work will be seen in all kinds of fake miracles, signs and wonders. ¹⁰It will be seen in every kind of evil that fools people who are dying. They are dying because they refuse to love the truth. The truth would save them.

¹¹So God will fool them completely. Then they will believe the lie. ¹²Many will not believe the truth. They will take pleasure in evil. They will be judged.

Stand Firm

¹³Brothers and sisters, we should always thank God for you. The Lord loves you. God chose you from the beginning. He wanted you to be saved. Salvation comes through the Holy Spirit’s work. He makes people holy. It also comes through believing the truth. ¹⁴He chose you to be saved by accepting the good news that we preach. And you will share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁵Brothers and sisters, stand firm. Hold on to what we taught you. We passed our teachings on to you by what we preached and wrote.

¹⁶Our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father loved us. By his grace God gave us comfort that will last forever. The hope he gave us is good.

May our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father ¹⁷comfort your hearts. May they make you strong in every good thing you do and say.

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