⁷ For ^(A)the ^[a]mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only ^[b]He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.

¹⁷ And their message will spread like cancer. ^(A)Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, ¹⁸ who have strayed concerning the truth, ^(B)saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some.

³ and every spirit that does not confess ^[a]that Jesus ^[b]Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

Deceptions of the Last Hour

^18 (A)Little children, ^(B)it is the last hour; and as you have heard that ^(C)the^[a] Antichrist is coming, ^(D)even now many antichrists have come, by which we know ^(E)that it is the last hour.

²⁹ For I know this, that after my departure ^(A)savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

The Meaning of the Woman and the Beast

⁷ But the angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? I will tell you the ^[a]mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.

⁵ And on her forehead a name was written:

^(A)MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT,
THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS
AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS
OF THE EARTH.

¹⁸ Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has ^[a]not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, ¹⁹ and not holding fast to ^(A)the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, ^(B)grows with the increase that is from God.

^20 [b]Therefore, if you ^(C)died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, ^(D)why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— ^21 (E)“Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” ²² which all concern things which perish with the using—^(F)according to the commandments and doctrines of men? ^23 (G)These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and ^[c]neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

¹⁶ And without controversy great is the ^[a]mystery of godliness: