The Day of the Lord and the Man of Lawlessness

1. And we request you, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,
2. that you not be quickly shaken in mind nor alarmed, neither by a spirit nor by a message nor by a letter as though from us, claiming that the Day of the Lord has arrived.
3. Let no one deceive you in any way, because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
4. the one who opposes and exalts himself over every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits in the sanctuary of God, displaying himself that he is God.
5. Do you not remember that while I was still with you I was telling you these things?
6. And now you know the thing restraining, so that he may be revealed in his time.
7. For the mystery of lawlessness is already working, only the one restraining now will do so until he is out of the way.
8. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and will destroy by the manifestation of His coming,
9. whose coming is according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and wonders of falsehood,
10. and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they did not accept the love of the truth so as to be saved.
11. And for this reason God sends to them a working of strong delusion, for them to believe the falsehood,
12. so that all may be judged who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness.

Stand Firm and Hold the Traditions

13. But we ought to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth.
14. For this He called you through our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15. So then, brethren, stand firm and hold fast the traditions which you were taught, whether through word or through our letter.
16. And may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave eternal encouragement and good hope by grace,
17. encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good work and word.