2 Thessalonians 2  Expanded Bible

Evil Things Will Happen

2 Brothers and sisters, ·we have something to say about [^Lconcerning] the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and ·the time when we will meet [our assembly/being gathered] together with him. ² ·Do not [We ask/request that you don’t] become ·easily [quickly] ·upset [unsettled; shaken] in your thinking or ·afraid [disturbed; alarmed] if you hear that the day of the Lord has already come [^Cthe time of Christ’s return and the judgments associated with it]. Someone may have said this ·in a prophecy [^Lby a spirit; or by the Spirit] or ·in a message [or by word of mouth] or in a letter as if it came from us [^Ca forged letter]. ³ Do not let anyone ·fool [deceive] you in any way. That day of the Lord [v. 2] will not come until the ·turning away from God [great rebellion; apostasy; Matt. 24:11–12; 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 3:1–5; 2 Pet. 2:3; Jude 18] happens and the Man of ·Evil^[a] [Wickedness; ^LLawlessness; ^Cprobably the Antichrist; 1 John 2:18; Rev. 13], ·who is on his way to hell [^Lthe son of destruction; John 17:12], appears. ⁴ He will ·be against [defy; oppose] and ·put himself above [exalt himself against] any so-called god or ·anything that [any object that; or any place where] people worship [Is. 14:13–14; Ezek. 28:2–9; Dan. 11:36] ·and [or so that] he will even go into the Temple of God and sit there and ·say that he is [present himself as] God.

⁵ Don’t you remember that when I was with you I told you that all this would happen? ⁶ And ·now [so] you know what is ·stopping that Man of Evil [^Lrestraining him; holding him back; 2:3] so he will ·appear [be revealed] at ·the right [the proper; ^Lhis own] time. ⁷ The ·secret power [or mystery] of ·evil [lawlessness; wickedness] is already ·working in the world [or at work], but there is one who is ·stopping that power [restraining it]. And ·he [or it] will continue to ·stop [restrain] it until ·he [or it] is taken out of the way [^Cthis restrainer may be the Holy Spirit or human government, among other possibilities]. ⁸ Then that ·Man of Evil [^Levil/lawless one; 2:3] will ·appear [be revealed], and the Lord Jesus^[b] will ·kill [destroy] him with the breath that comes from his mouth [Is. 11:4] and will ·destroy [annihilate; put an end to] him with the ·glory [brightness; splendor; or appearance; manifestation] of his ·coming [arrival; presence]. ⁹ ·The Man of Evil [^L…who; 2:3] will ·come [arrive] ·by the power [or at the instigation; ^Lin accordance with the work/activity] of Satan ·and will have [or with; accompanied by] ·all kinds [or every kind] of ·false [counterfeit] ·miracles [powers], signs, and wonders. ¹⁰ He will use every ·kind of evil to trick [or wicked deception against/toward] those who are ·lost [perishing; heading toward destruction], because they refused to love the truth that would save them. ¹¹ For this reason God sends them ·something powerful that leads them away from the truth [^La powerful/compelling/effective deception/error] so they will believe ·a lie [what is false]. ¹² So all those will be ·judged guilty [condemned] who did not believe the truth, but ·enjoyed doing [delighted in; approved of] ·evil [wickedness; unrighteousness; injustice].

You Are Chosen for Salvation

¹³ Brothers and sisters, whom the Lord loves, God chose you from the beginning^[c] to be saved. So we ·must [ought to] always thank God for you. You are saved by the ·Spirit that makes you holy [sanctifying work of the Spirit] and by your faith in the truth. ¹⁴ God used the ·Good News [Gospel] that we preached to call you to be saved so you can ·share in [obtain; possess] the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ So, brothers and sisters, stand ·strong [firm] and ·continue to believe [hold fast to; grasp firmly] the ·teachings we gave you [^Ltraditions you were taught] ·in our speaking and in our [^Lwhether through our word or our] letter.

¹⁶ May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through his grace gave us eternal ·comfort [encouragement] and a good hope, ¹⁷ ·encourage [comfort] you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.