The Man of Lawlessness
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Now concerning 1the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our 2being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,a
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not to be quickly shaken in mind or 3alarmed, either 4by a spirit or a 5spoken word, or 6a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that 7the day of the Lord has come.
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8Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, 9unless the rebellion comes first, and 10the man of lawlessnessb is revealed, 11the son of destruction,c
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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, 12proclaiming himself to be God.
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Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
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And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time.
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For 13the mystery of lawlessness 14is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.
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And then 15the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus 16will kill with 17the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by 18the appearance of his coming.
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The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan 19with all power and false signs and wonders,
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and with all wicked deception for 20those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
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in order that all may be condemned 23who did not believe the truth but 24had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Stand Firm
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But 25we ought always to give thanks to God for you, 26brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you 27as the first fruitsd28 to be saved, 29through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.
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To this he called you through 30our gospel, 31so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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So then, brothers, 32stand firm and hold to 33the traditions that you were taught by us, either 34by our spoken word or by 35our letter.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)