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
- 2 Thessalonians 2:2 NU the Lord
- 2 Thessalonians 2:3 NU lawlessness
- 2 Thessalonians 2:4 NU omits as God
- 2 Thessalonians 2:7 hidden truth
- 2 Thessalonians 2:7 Or he
- 2 Thessalonians 2:13 under obligation
- 2 Thessalonians 2:13 being set apart by
- 2 Thessalonians 2:15 letter
- 2 Thessalonians 2:17 strengthen
2 Thessalonians 2
Easy-to-Read Version
Evil Things Will Happen
2 Brothers and sisters, we have something to say about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We want to talk to you about that time when we will meet together with him. 2 Don’t let yourselves be easily upset or worried if you hear that the day of the Lord has already come. Someone might say that this idea came from us—in something the Spirit told us, or in something we said, or in a letter we wrote. 3 Don’t be fooled by anything they might say. That day of the Lord will not come until the turning away from God happens. And that day will not come until the Man of Evil appears, the one who belongs to hell.[a] 4 He will stand against and put himself above everything that people worship or think is worthy of worship. He will even go into God’s Temple[b] and sit there, claiming that he is God.
5 I told you before that all these things would happen. Remember? 6 And you know what is stopping that Man of Evil now. He is being stopped now so that he will appear at the right time. 7 The secret power of evil is already working in the world now. But there is one who is stopping that secret power of evil. And he will continue to stop it until he is taken out of the way. 8 Then that Man of Evil will appear. But the Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath that comes from his mouth. The Lord will come in a way that everyone will see, and that will be the end of the Man of Evil.
9 When that Man of Evil comes, it will be the work of Satan. He will come with great power, and he will do all kinds of false miracles, signs, and wonders. 10 The Man of Evil will use every kind of evil to fool those who are lost. They are lost because they refused to love the truth and be saved. 11 So God will send them something powerful that leads them away from the truth and causes them to believe a lie. 12 They will all be condemned because they did not believe the truth and because they enjoyed doing evil.
You Are Chosen for Salvation
13 Brothers and sisters, you are people the Lord loves. And we always thank God for you. That’s what we should do, because God chose you to be some of the first people[c] to be saved. You are saved by the Spirit making you holy and by your faith in the truth. 14 God chose you to have that salvation. He chose you by using the Good News that we told you. You were chosen so that you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So, brothers and sisters, stand strong and continue to believe the teachings we gave you when we were there and by letter.
16-17 We pray that the Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father will comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say. God loved us and gave us through his grace a wonderful hope and comfort that has no end.
Footnotes
- 2 Thessalonians 2:3 belongs to hell Literally, “is the son of destruction.”
- 2 Thessalonians 2:4 Temple Probably the Temple in Jerusalem. See “Temple” in the Word List.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:13 to be … people Some Greek copies say, “from the beginning.”
2 Thessalonians 2
English Standard Version
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.
Footnotes
- 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
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
