2 THESSALONIANS 2 [†]Now concerning  a the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our  b being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, [1] 2[†]not to be quickly shaken in mind or  c alarmed, either  d by a spirit or a  e spoken word, or  e a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that  f the day of the Lord has come. 3[†] g Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come,  h unless the rebellion comes first, and  i the man of lawlessness [2] is revealed,  j the son of destruction, [3] 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,  k proclaiming himself to be God. 5[†]Do 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  l the mystery of lawlessness  m is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8[†]And then  n the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus  o will kill with  p the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by  q the appearance of his coming. 9[†]The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan  r with all power and false signs and wonders, 10and with all wicked deception for  s those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11[†]Therefore  t God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe  u what is false, 12in order that all may be condemned  v who did not believe the truth but  w had pleasure in unrighteousness.

13[†]But  x we ought always to give thanks to God for you,  y brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you  z as the firstfruits [4]  a to be saved,  b through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14[†]To this he called you through  c our gospel,  a so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15[†]So then, brothers,  d stand firm and hold to  e the traditions that you were taught by us, either  f by our spoken word or by  f our letter.

16[†]Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father,  g who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good  h hope through grace, 17comfort your hearts and  i establish them in every good work and word.