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2 Thessalonians 2
New International Version

The Man of Lawlessness

2 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ(A) and our being gathered to him,(B) we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter(C)—asserting that the day of the Lord(D) has already come.(E) 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you(F) in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion(G) occurs and the man of lawlessness[a] is revealed,(H) the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God(I) or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.(J)

5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?(K) 6 And now you know what is holding him back,(L) so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back(M) will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed,(N) whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth(O) and destroy by the splendor of his coming.(P) 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan(Q) works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders(R) that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing.(S) They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.(T) 11 For this reason God sends them(U) a powerful delusion(V) so that they will believe the lie(W) 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.(X)

Stand Firm

13 But we ought always to thank God for you,(Y) brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits[b](Z) to be saved(AA) through the sanctifying work of the Spirit(AB) and through belief in the truth. 14 He called you(AC) to this through our gospel,(AD) that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm(AE) and hold fast to the teachings[c] we passed on to you,(AF) whether by word of mouth or by letter.

16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father,(AG) who loved us(AH) and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage(AI) your hearts and strengthen(AJ) you in every good deed and word.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Some manuscripts sin
  2. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 Some manuscripts because from the beginning God chose you
  3. 2 Thessalonians 2:15 Or traditions
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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. 3 Let 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, 4 who 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.

5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For (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. 8 And 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. 9 The coming of the lawless one is (M)according to the working of Satan, with all power, (N)signs, and lying wonders, 10 and 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. 11 And (Q)for this reason God will send them strong delusion, (R)that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but (S)had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Stand Fast

13 But 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, 14 to which He called you by our gospel, for (W)the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brethren, (X)stand fast and hold (Y)the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our [h]epistle.

16 Now 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, 17 comfort your hearts (AB)and [i]establish you in every good word and work.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Thessalonians 2:2 NU the Lord
  2. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 NU lawlessness
  3. 2 Thessalonians 2:4 NU omits as God
  4. 2 Thessalonians 2:7 hidden truth
  5. 2 Thessalonians 2:7 Or he
  6. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 under obligation
  7. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 being set apart by
  8. 2 Thessalonians 2:15 letter
  9. 2 Thessalonians 2:17 strengthen
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2 Thessalonians 2
EasyEnglish Bible

The day when the Lord Jesus will return

2 Our Christian friends, we must explain something now about the time when our Lord Jesus Christ will return. That is the time when he will bring us all together to be with him. 2 Please do not become easily confused about this. Do not let yourselves become afraid because of false messages about the Lord's return. Some people are telling you that the great day of the Lord's return has already happened.[a] Some of these people say that God's Spirit has shown them a message like that. Other people might say that the message came from us. Or they might say that we wrote it in a letter.[b]

3 Do not let anyone deceive you like that in any way. That day will not happen until certain other things have happened. Before that day, there will be a time when many people will turn against God. Also, the man who is completely against God will appear.[c] God will surely destroy him in the end. 4 This man will be God's great enemy. He will say that he is greater than everything that people call their gods. He will say that he is greater than everything that people worship. As a result, he will even go into the temple. He will sit down there like a king. He will tell everyone that he himself is God.

5 I told you these things when I was with you. I am sure that you remember that.

6 Something makes it impossible for this man to come now. And you know what it is. But this man will appear at the proper time. 7 His power is already working secretly to turn people against God. But there is someone who makes it impossible for him to work freely. That person will continue to make it impossible, until God takes that person away. 8 Then the man who is against God will appear. But the Lord Jesus will come, and he will kill that man. Jesus will blow him away with breath from his mouth. When Jesus appears with great power, that enemy of God will be there no longer![d]

9 When the enemy of God appears, he will be doing Satan's work. Satan will give him the power to do great things and miracles that are false. 10 He will do all kinds of bad things that deceive people. The people that he deceives are people that God will destroy. Those people believe false things because they have refused to accept God's true message. If they had loved that true message, God would have saved them. 11 For this reason, God causes their minds to accept something that is wrong. They believe a false message. 12 As a result, God will punish all of them. They have refused to believe what is true. Instead, they have enjoyed doing very bad things.

The believers must continue to trust God

13 We always thank God for you, our Christian friends that the Lord loves. We ought to thank God, because he has chosen to save you. God chose you to belong to him, as some of the first people that he would save. You believed God's true message. And God's Spirit makes you separate from things that are bad. 14 We told you God's good news. That is how God called you to come to him. He saved you so that you would join with our Lord Jesus Christ in heaven.

15 Because of that, our Christian friends, you must continue to trust Christ. Continue to believe the true things that we taught you. Those are the things that we told you when we were with you. We also wrote about them in our letter to you.

16 We ask our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, our Father, to help you. God has shown that he loves us very much. He has helped us to be brave and strong for all time. We continue to hope for the good things that will come. Yes, God has been very kind to us! 17 We pray that he will continue to help you and make you strong. Then you will always be able to do good things and to say good things.

Footnotes

  1. 2:2 The ‘great day of the Lord's return’ includes many events. It will be a time when God will win against all his enemies. See Zephaniah 1:14-18. He will punish them. See Isaiah 13:9. This will cause trouble on the earth. See Isaiah 13:11; Amos 5:18-20. But it will be a very good time for those who love God. It is a time when God will make his people free. See Jeremiah 30:7-9; Joel 3:16. It is the time when Jesus will return and he will start to rule on the earth.
  2. 2:2 When he was with them, Paul had taught the Christians at Thessalonica about Jesus' return. See verse 5. He had said more about it in his first letter to them. See 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 5:1-10. But other people were now teaching that it had already happened. So Paul is explaining that certain things must happen before Jesus returns.
  3. 2:3 The ‘man who is completely against God’ is God's great enemy. See 1 John 2:18,22; 4:3. The book in the Bible called Daniel tells about a very bad ruler like this. See Daniel 7:24-26; 9:26-27; 11:31-39. The Bible describes a strange wild animal that may also be like a picture of this person. See Revelation 13:1-8.
  4. 2:8 Something (verse 6) or someone (verse 7) is making it impossible for the enemy of God to come yet. The Christians at Thessalonica knew what Paul meant. But we do not know exactly what Paul means here. He may mean the governments that rule people in this world. God chooses to let governments rule people. And good governments make good rules. Those rules help people do what is right.
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