2 Thessalonians 1-2

English Standard Version

Greeting

1 ^(A)Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

²Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving

³^(B)We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers,^[a] as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. ⁴Therefore ^(C)we ourselves boast about you ^(D)in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith ^(E)in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.

The Judgment at Christ's Coming

⁵This is ^(F)evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be ^(G)considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— ⁶since indeed God considers it ^(H)just ^(I)to repay with affliction those who afflict you, ⁷and to grant ^(J)relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when ^(K)the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven ^(L)with his mighty angels ⁸^(M)in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those ^(N)who do not know God and on those who ^(O)do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹They will suffer the punishment of ^(P)eternal destruction, ^(Q)away from^[b] the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, ¹⁰^(R)when he comes on ^(S)that day ^(T)to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our ^(U)testimony to you ^(V)was believed. ¹¹To this end we ^(W)always pray for you, that our God may ^(X)make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every ^(Y)work of faith by his power, ¹²so that the name of our Lord Jesus ^(Z)may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Man of Lawlessness

2 Now concerning ^(AA)the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our ^(AB)being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,^[c] ²not to be quickly shaken in mind or ^(AC)alarmed, either ^(AD)by a spirit or a ^(AE)spoken word, or ^(AF)a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that ^(AG)the day of the Lord has come. ³^(AH)Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, ^(AI)unless the rebellion comes first, and ^(AJ)the man of lawlessness^[d] is revealed, ^(AK)the son of destruction,^[e] ⁴who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, ^(AL)proclaiming himself to be God. ⁵Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? ⁶And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. ⁷For ^(AM)the mystery of lawlessness ^(AN)is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. ⁸And then ^(AO)the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus ^(AP)will kill with ^(AQ)the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by ^(AR)the appearance of his coming. ⁹The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan ^(AS)with all power and false signs and wonders, ¹⁰and with all wicked deception for ^(AT)those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. ¹¹Therefore ^(AU)God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe ^(AV)what is false, ¹²in order that all may be condemned ^(AW)who did not believe the truth but ^(AX)had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Stand Firm

¹³But ^(AY)we ought always to give thanks to God for you, ^(AZ)brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you ^(BA)as the firstfruits^[f] ^(BB)to be saved, ^(BC)through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴To this he called you through ^(BD)our gospel, ^(BE)so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵So then, brothers, ^(BF)stand firm and hold to ^(BG)the traditions that you were taught by us, either ^(BH)by our spoken word or by ^(BI)our letter.

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

Footnotes

2 Thessalonians 1:3 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters
2 Thessalonians 1:9 Or destruction that comes from
2 Thessalonians 2:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 13, 15
2 Thessalonians 2:3 Some manuscripts sin
2 Thessalonians 2:3 Greek the son of perdition (a Hebrew idiom)
2 Thessalonians 2:13 Some manuscripts chose you from the beginning

2 Thessalonians 1-2

New International Version

1 Paul, Silas^[a]^(A) and Timothy,^(B)

To the church of the Thessalonians^(C) in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

²Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.^(D)

Thanksgiving and Prayer

³We ought always to thank God for you,^(E) brothers and sisters,^[b] and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.^(F) ⁴Therefore, among God’s churches we boast^(G) about your perseverance and faith^(H) in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.^(I)

⁵All this is evidence^(J) that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy^(K) of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. ⁶God is just:^(L) He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you^(M) ⁷and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven^(N) in blazing fire^(O) with his powerful angels.^(P) ⁸He will punish^(Q) those who do not know God^(R) and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.^(S) ⁹They will be punished with everlasting destruction^(T) and shut out from the presence of the Lord^(U) and from the glory of his might^(V) ¹⁰on the day^(W) he comes to be glorified^(X) in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.^(Y)

¹¹With this in mind, we constantly pray for you,^(Z) that our God may make you worthy^(AA) of his calling,^(AB) and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness^(AC) and your every deed prompted by faith.^(AD) ¹²We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,^(AE) and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.^[c]

The Man of Lawlessness

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

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

Stand Firm

¹³But we ought always to thank God for you,^(BD) brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits^[e]^(BE) to be saved^(BF) through the sanctifying work of the Spirit^(BG) and through belief in the truth. ¹⁴He called you^(BH) to this through our gospel,^(BI) that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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

¹⁶May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father,^(BL) who loved us^(BM) and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, ¹⁷encourage^(BN) your hearts and strengthen^(BO) you in every good deed and word.

Footnotes

2 Thessalonians 1:1 Greek Silvanus, a variant of Silas
2 Thessalonians 1:3 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 2:1, 13, 15; 3:1, 6, 13.
2 Thessalonians 1:12 Or God and Lord, Jesus Christ
2 Thessalonians 2:3 Some manuscripts sin
2 Thessalonians 2:13 Some manuscripts because from the beginning God chose you
2 Thessalonians 2:15 Or traditions

English Standard Version (ESV)

New International Version (NIV)

2 Thessalonians 1-2

English Standard Version

Greeting

Thanksgiving

The Judgment at Christ's Coming

The Man of Lawlessness

Stand Firm

Footnotes

Cross references

2 Thessalonians 1-2

New International Version

Thanksgiving and Prayer

The Man of Lawlessness

Stand Firm

Footnotes

Cross references

More on the NIV

2 Thessalonians 1-2 English Standard Version

Greeting

Thanksgiving

The Judgment at Christ's Coming

The Man of Lawlessness

Stand Firm

Footnotes

Cross references

2 Thessalonians 1-2 New International Version

Thanksgiving and Prayer

The Man of Lawlessness

Stand Firm

Footnotes

Cross references

More on the NIV

2 Thessalonians 1-2

English Standard Version

2 Thessalonians 1-2

New International Version