¹⁸ He is also the ^(A)head of ^(B)the body, the church; and He is ^(C)the beginning, ^(D)the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

¹⁸ And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “^(A)All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. ^19 [a](B)Go, therefore, and ^(C)make disciples of ^(D)all the nations, ^(E)baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to ^[b]follow all that I commanded you; and behold, ^(F)I am with you ^[c]always, to ^(G)the end of the age.”

¹¹ And He ^(A)gave ^(B)some as apostles, some as prophets, some as ^(C)evangelists, some as ^[a]pastors and ^(D)teachers,

^12 (A)for the equipping of the ^[a]saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of ^(B)the body of Christ;

² that you not be quickly shaken from your ^[a]composure or be disturbed either by a ^(A)spirit, or a ^[b](B)message, or a ^(C)letter as if from us, to the effect that ^(D)the day of the Lord ^(E)has come. ^3 (F)No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the ^[c](G)apostasy comes first, and the ^(H)man of lawlessness is revealed, the ^(I)son of destruction, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above ^[d](J)every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, ^(K)displaying himself as being God. ⁵ Do you not remember that ^(L)while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? ⁶ And you know ^(M)what restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his time. ⁷ For ^(N)the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only ^[e](O)He who now restrains will do so until ^[f]He is ^[g]removed. ⁸ Then that lawless one ^(P)will be revealed, whom the Lord will eliminate ^(Q)with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the ^(R)appearance of His ^[h]coming; ⁹ that is, the one whose ^[i]coming is in accord with the activity of ^(S)Satan, with all power and false ^[j](T)signs and wonders,