2 Thessalonians 2
Worldwide English (New Testament)
2 My brothers, we want to talk to you about the time when our Lord Jesus Christ comes again and we are taken to meet him.
2 Do not let your minds be easily upset. Do not be troubled by a spirit, or a message, or a letter. Do not be troubled if you hear that the day of the Lord has already come. Some people will say it came from us.
3 Do not let anyone fool you in any way. Before the day of the Lord comes, many people will stop believing God. The Man of Evil will be seen. He is the evil one who will be destroyed for ever.
4 He will put himself against God. He will put himself above everything to do with God, and above everything that people worship. He will sit in God's holy place and tell people that he is God.
5 You remember that I told you these things when I was still with you.
6 And you know what is holding that evil man back. He will not be seen until it is his time to be seen.
7 The plan to make people wrong has already begun to work. But someone is holding back that plan. He will stop the law-breaker for a time.
8 Then that evil man will be seen. The Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath from his mouth. The coming of the Lord Jesus will be so bright and wonderful that it will put the evil man to an end.
9 The coming of the evil man is the work of Satan. He will come in great power with signs that are not true, and wonderful things.
10 And by his bad tricks he will fool people who are lost. They will not love the true message which would have saved them.
11 That is why God lets them be fooled so that they will believe what is not true.
12 They will all be judged. I mean the people who have not believed in the true message but who wanted to do what is wrong.
13 My brothers, the Lord loves you. We should thank God for you always. Here is why. From the beginning God chose you to be saved. You were saved because the Spirit made you holy and because you believed the true message.
14 God called you to be saved by the good news we brought you. He did this so that you would have some of the honour which the Lord Jesus Christ has.
15 So my brothers, be strong. Hold on to the things we taught you by our words or by letter.
16 God has loved us and made us happy through his kindness. He gave us everlasting comfort and good hope.
17 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, comfort your hearts and make you strong to do and say everything that is good.
2 Tesalonicenses 2
La Palabra (Hispanoamérica)
II.— LA VENIDA DE CRISTO Y SUS CIRCUNSTANCIAS (2,1-12)
El momento de la venida
2 En cuanto a la manifestación de nuestro Señor Jesucristo y al momento de nuestra reunión con él, les pedimos, hermanos, 2 que no pierdan demasiado pronto la cabeza, ni se dejen impresionar por revelaciones, por rumores o por alguna carta supuestamente nuestra en el sentido de que el día del Señor es inminente. 3 ¡Que nadie los desoriente en modo alguno! Es preciso que primero se produzca la gran rebelión contra Dios y que se dé a conocer el hombre lleno de impiedad, el destinado a la perdición, 4 el enemigo que se alza orgulloso contra todo lo que es divino o digno de adoración, hasta el punto de llegar a suplantar a Dios y hacerse pasar a sí mismo por Dios.
5 ¿No recuerdan que ya les hablaba de esto cuando estaba entre ustedes? 6 Ya conocen el obstáculo que ahora le impide manifestarse en espera del momento que tiene prefijado. 7 Porque ese misterioso y maligno poder está ya en acción; sólo hace falta que se quite de en medio el que hasta el momento lo frena. 8 Entonces se dará a conocer el impío a quien Jesús, el Señor, destruirá con el aliento de su boca y aniquilará con el esplendor de su manifestación.
9 En cuanto a la manifestación de ese impío, como obra que es de Satanás, vendrá acompañada de todo un despliegue de fuerza, de señales y de falsos prodigios. 10 Con su gran maldad engañará a quienes están en camino de perdición al no haber querido hacer suyo el amor a la verdad que había de salvarlos. 11 Por eso Dios les envía un poder seductor de forma que den crédito a la mentira 12 y se condenen todos los que, en lugar de dar crédito a la verdad, se abrazaron con la iniquidad.
III.— EXHORTACIONES Y RECOMENDACIONES (2,13—3,15)
Escogidos para la salvación
13 A ustedes, en cambio, hermanos, el Señor los ama y los ha escogido como primeros frutos de salvación por medio del Espíritu que los consagra y de la fe en la verdad. Por ello, debemos dar continuas gracias a Dios 14 que los llamó mediante el mensaje evangélico que les anunciamos para que alcancen la gloria de nuestro Señor Jesucristo. 15 Por tanto, hermanos, manténganse firmes y conserven las tradiciones que les hemos enseñado de palabra o por escrito. 16 ¡Ojalá que nuestro Señor Jesucristo y nuestro Padre Dios que nos ha amado y que generosamente nos otorga un consuelo eterno y una espléndida esperanza, 17 los llenen interiormente del consuelo y los fortalezcan en toda suerte de bien, lo mismo de palabra que de obra!
2 Thessalonians 2
The Voice
On that day—though men and women have spent lifetimes scanning the skies hoping that “perhaps today” is the day of salvation—on that day, the confessed lovers of God and Jesus will glow with all the wonder of children at Christmas.
There are clear premonitions in the Bible about what we can expect on that day; but can anyone, with our rudimentary human knowledge, know what to expect? Jesus confessed that even He did not know the day or the hour when these final moments will play out, so how can we truly know? Likely this fear of the unknown is what took root and began to spread like weeds within the Thessalonians’ community. Where fear takes root, faith withers; and people who once focused on the bright hope of the Son turn away.
2 Since, brothers and sisters, we are on the topic of the coming of our Lord Jesus the Anointed and how we will all gather together to meet Him, we ask 2 that you don’t let your minds get quickly rattled or become anxious because of someone else’s so-called “spiritual revelation” or because someone gave you a message or claimed to know of a letter allegedly from us reporting that the day of the Lord has already come! 3 Don’t be deceived by anyone! That day, that amazing day, won’t come until after the great rebellion and the unveiling of the rebellious one.[a] As the spawn of death, he delights in destruction. 4 He sets himself up as the great adversary of God and vies for a place above all other so-called gods or objects of worship. If it were possible, he would even take a seat—yes, exalt himself—in the temple of the one true God, declaring that he himself is God! 5 Don’t you remember me telling you all this the last time we were together? 6 You know what restrains him now and what will hold him until the exact time when he will be revealed. 7 For the mystery of sin is already working its way through the world; He who holds him back now will continue to suppress him only until He is pulled out of the way. 8 It is then that this rebellious one will be finally unleashed. But the Lord will slay him with the breath of His mouth; and with the splendor of His coming, He will bring him to his predetermined end. 9 Still the rebellious one arrives with all sorts of power, performing signs and fake miracles sanctioned by Satan; 10 he employs every manner of wicked deception to wile away those who are destined for eternal death because they reject the love of the truth that leads to salvation. 11 Because of this, God sends a deceptive influence over them so they will wander from the truth and believe the lie. 12 As a result, God will judge all of those who did not entrust themselves to the truth when it faced them but instead reveled in wickedness.
13 But this is not you, dearly beloved brothers and sisters of the Lord. We cannot help but thank God for you at all times, because from the beginning He handpicked you for salvation through the Spirit’s sanctifying work and your belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this when we shared our good news with you. Now you can take part in the glory of our Lord Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King. 15 So, brothers and sisters, all you need to do now is stand firm and hold tight to the line of teachings we have passed on to you, whether in person or in a letter. 16-17 Now may our Lord Jesus (the Anointed One Himself) and God our Father (who has loved us, comforted us eternally, and given us a good hope by His grace) bring comfort to your hearts and strengthen your wills to accomplish every good work and word.
Footnotes
- 2:3 Other manuscripts read “man of sin.”
© 1969, 1971, 1996, 1998 by SOON Educational Publications
La Palabra, (versión hispanoamericana) © 2010 Texto y Edición, Sociedad Bíblica de España
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.