The Man of Sin

2 Now, about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together with him, we ask you, brothers, ² not to be quickly shaken from your composure or disturbed by a spirit, a message, or a letter thought to be from us, which says that the day of the Lord has already come. ³ Let no one deceive you in any way, because that day will not come until the falling away comes first, and the man of sin^[a] is revealed—the son of destruction. ⁴ He opposes and exalts himself above everyone who is called God or every object of worship, so that he sits in the temple of God, displaying himself as God.

⁵ Do you not remember that, while I was still with you, I kept telling you these things? ⁶ And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed in his own time. ⁷ In fact, the mystery of this lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who is now holding him back moves out of the way. ⁸ Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will consume with^[b] the breath of his mouth and destroy when he appears in splendor at his coming.

⁹ The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan, with every kind of miracle, that is, with false signs and wonders, ¹⁰ and with every kind of unrighteousness that deceives those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. ¹¹ And because of this, God continues to send them a strong delusion, so that they believe the lie, ¹² in order that all those may be condemned who refused to believe the truth but instead delighted in unrighteousness.

Chosen for Salvation

¹³ But we are always obligated to thank God for you, brothers, loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation by the sanctifying work of the Spirit and faith in the truth. ¹⁴ For this reason he also called you through our gospel so that you would obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ So then, brothers, stand firm and hold on to the teachings that were passed along to you, either by word of mouth or by a letter from us. ¹⁶ May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and in his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, ¹⁷ encourage your hearts and establish you in every good work and word.