2 Thessalonians 2

King James Version

2 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

²That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

³Let 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;

⁴Who 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.

⁵Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

⁶And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

⁷For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

⁸And 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:

⁹Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

¹⁰And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

¹¹And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

¹²That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

¹³But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

¹⁴Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁵Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

¹⁶Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,

¹⁷Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

2 Thessalonians 2

International Standard Version

The Lawless One

2 Now we ask you, brothers, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah,^[a] and our gathering together to him, ²not to be so quickly upset^[b] or alarmed when someone claims that we said,^[c] either by some spirit, conversation, or letter that the Day of the Lord has already come. ³Do not let anyone deceive you in any way, for it will not come unless the rebellion^[d] takes place first and the man of sin,^[e] who is destined for destruction,^[f] is revealed. ⁴He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god and object of worship. As a result, he seats himself in the sanctuary^[g] of God and himself declares that he is God.

⁵Don’t you remember that I repeatedly told you about these things when I was still with you? ⁶You know what it is that is now holding him back, so that he will be revealed when his time comes. ⁷For the secret of this lawlessness is already at work, but only until the person now holding it back gets out of the way. ⁸Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord^[h] will destroy with the breath of his mouth, rendering him powerless by the manifestation of his coming.

⁹The coming of the lawless one^[i] will be accompanied by the power of Satan. He will use every kind^[j] of power, including miraculous signs, lying wonders, ¹⁰and every type of evil to deceive^[k] those who are dying, those who refused to love the truth that would save them.^[l] ¹¹For this reason, God will send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie. ¹²Then all who have not believed the truth but have taken pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned.

¹³At all times we are obligated to thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God chose you to be the first fruits^[m] for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through faith in the truth. ¹⁴With this purpose in mind, he called you through our proclamation of the^[n] gospel so that you would obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.^[o] ¹⁵So then, brothers, stand firm, and cling to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth^[p] or by our letter. ¹⁶May our Lord Jesus, the Messiah^[q] himself, and may God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort^[r] and good hope, ¹⁷encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good action and word.

Footnotes

2 Thessalonians 2:1 Or Christ
2 Thessalonians 2:2 Lit. shaken in mind
2 Thessalonians 2:2 Lit. as though by us
2 Thessalonians 2:3 Or apostasy
2 Thessalonians 2:3 Other mss. read man of lawlessness
2 Thessalonians 2:3 Lit. the son of destruction
2 Thessalonians 2:4 Or temple
2 Thessalonians 2:8 Some MSS read Lord Jesus
2 Thessalonians 2:9 Lit. His coming
2 Thessalonians 2:9 Lit. In every kind
2 Thessalonians 2:10 Lit. every evil deception
2 Thessalonians 2:10 Lit. so that they might be saved
2 Thessalonians 2:13 Other mss. read from the beginning
2 Thessalonians 2:14 The Gk. lacks proclamation of the
2 Thessalonians 2:14 Or Christ
2 Thessalonians 2:15 Lit. by word
2 Thessalonians 2:16 Or Christ
2 Thessalonians 2:16 Or encouragement

2 Thessalonians 2

New King James Version

The Great Apostasy

2 Now, brethren, ^(A)concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ^(B)and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, ²^(C)not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of ^[a]Christ had come. ³Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come ^(D)unless the falling away comes first, and ^(E)the man of ^[b]sin is revealed, ^(F)the son of perdition, ⁴who opposes and ^(G)exalts himself ^(H)above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits ^[c]as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

⁵Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? ⁶And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. ⁷For ^(I)the ^[d]mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only ^[e]He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. ⁸And then the lawless one will be revealed, ^(J)whom the Lord will consume ^(K)with the breath of His mouth and destroy ^(L)with the brightness of His coming. ⁹The coming of the lawless one is ^(M)according to the working of Satan, with all power, ^(N)signs, and lying wonders, ¹⁰and with all unrighteous deception among ^(O)those who perish, because they did not receive ^(P)the love of the truth, that they might be saved. ¹¹And ^(Q)for this reason God will send them strong delusion, ^(R)that they should believe the lie, ¹²that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but ^(S)had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Stand Fast

¹³But we are ^[f]bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God ^(T)from the beginning ^(U)chose you for salvation ^(V)through ^[g]sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, ¹⁴to which He called you by our gospel, for ^(W)the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵Therefore, brethren, ^(X)stand fast and hold ^(Y)the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our ^[h]epistle.

¹⁶Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, ^(Z)who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and ^(AA)good hope by grace, ¹⁷comfort your hearts ^(AB)and ^[i]establish you in every good word and work.