2 Thessalonians 2

The Man of Lawlessness

2Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ^f and our being gathered to him,^g we ask you, brothers and sisters, ²not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter^h—asserting that the day of the Lordⁱ has already come.^{j 3}Don’t let anyone deceive you^k in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion^l occurs and the man of lawlessness^a is revealed,^m the man doomed to destruction. ⁴He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called Godⁿ or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.^o

⁵Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?^{p 6}And now you know what is holding him back,^q so that he may be revealed at the proper time. ⁷For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back^r will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. ⁸And then the lawless one will be revealed,^s whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth^t and destroy by the splendor of his coming.^{u 9}The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan^v works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders^w that serve the lie, ¹⁰and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing.^x They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.^{y 11}For this reason God sends them^z a powerful delusion^a so that they will believe the lie^{b 12}and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.^c

Stand Firm

¹³But we ought always to thank God for you,^d brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits^be to be saved^f through the sanctifying work of the Spirit^g and through belief in the truth. ¹⁴He called you^h to this through our gospel,ⁱ that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁵So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm^j and hold fast to the teachings^c we passed on to you,^k whether by word of mouth or by letter.

¹⁶May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father,^l who loved us^m and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, ¹⁷encourageⁿ your hearts and strengthen^o you in every good deed and word.