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.

The Abomination of Desolation

¹⁵ “So when you see the abomination of desolation ^(A)spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in ^(B)the holy place (^(C)let the reader understand), ¹⁶ then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ^17 (D)Let the one who is on ^(E)the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, ¹⁸ and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. ¹⁹ And ^(F)alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! ²⁰ Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be ^(G)great tribulation, ^(H)such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. ²² And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for ^(I)the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. ^23 (J)Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. ²⁴ For ^(K)false christs and ^(L)false prophets will arise and ^(M)perform great signs and wonders, ^(N)so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵ See, ^(O)I have told you beforehand.

The Seven Seals

6 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of ^(A)the seven seals, and I heard ^(B)one of the four living creatures say ^(C)with a voice like thunder, ^(D)“Come!” ² And I looked, and behold, ^(E)a white horse! And ^(F)its rider had a bow, and ^(G)a crown was given to him, and he came out ^(H)conquering, and to conquer.

³ When he opened the second seal, I heard ^(I)the second living creature say, “Come!” ⁴ And out came another horse, ^(J)bright red. Its rider was permitted ^(K)to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

⁵ When he opened the third seal, I heard the ^(L)third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, ^(M)a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. ⁶ And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, ^(N)“A quart^[a] of wheat for a denarius,^[b] and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and ^(O)do not harm the oil and wine!”

⁷ When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of ^(P)the fourth living creature say, “Come!” ⁸ And I looked, and behold, ^(Q)a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill ^(R)with sword and with famine and with pestilence and ^(S)by wild beasts of the earth.

⁹ When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under ^(T)the altar ^(U)the souls of those who had been slain ^(V)for the word of God and for ^(W)the witness they had borne. ¹⁰ They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, ^(X)holy and true, ^(Y)how long ^(Z)before you will judge and ^(AA)avenge our blood on ^(AB)those who dwell on the earth?” ¹¹ Then they were each given ^(AC)a white robe and ^(AD)told to rest a little longer, ^(AE)until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers^{[c] (AF)}should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

¹² When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, ^(AG)there was a great earthquake, and ^(AH)the sun became black as ^(AI)sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, ¹³ and ^(AJ)the stars of the sky fell to the earth ^(AK)as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. ^14 (AL)The sky vanished ^(AM)like a scroll that is being rolled up, and ^(AN)every mountain and island was removed from its place. ¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave^[d] and free, ^(AO)hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, ^16 (AP)calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of ^(AQ)him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷ for ^(AR)the great day of their wrath has come, and ^(AS)who can stand?”