The Man of Lawlessness

2 Now concerning ^(A)the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our ^(B)being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,^{[a] 2} not to be quickly shaken in mind or ^(C)alarmed, either ^(D)by a spirit or a ^(E)spoken word, or ^(F)a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that ^(G)the day of the Lord has come. ^3 (H)Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, ^(I)unless the rebellion comes first, and ^(J)the man of lawlessness^[b] is revealed, ^(K)the son of destruction,^{[c] 4} who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, ^(L)proclaiming himself to be God. ⁵ Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? ⁶ And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. ⁷ For ^(M)the mystery of lawlessness ^(N)is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. ⁸ And then ^(O)the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus ^(P)will kill with ^(Q)the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by ^(R)the appearance of his coming. ⁹ The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan ^(S)with all power and false signs and wonders, ¹⁰ and with all wicked deception for ^(T)those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. ¹¹ Therefore ^(U)God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe ^(V)what is false, ¹² in order that all may be condemned ^(W)who did not believe the truth but ^(X)had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Stand Firm

¹³ But ^(Y)we ought always to give thanks to God for you, ^(Z)brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you ^(AA)as the firstfruits^{[d] (AB)}to be saved, ^(AC)through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴ To this he called you through ^(AD)our gospel, ^(AE)so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ So then, brothers, ^(AF)stand firm and hold to ^(AG)the traditions that you were taught by us, either ^(AH)by our spoken word or by ^(AI)our letter.

¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, ^(AJ)who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good ^(AK)hope through grace, ¹⁷ comfort your hearts and ^(AL)establish them in every good work and word.