Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters,
not to be quickly shaken from your state of mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or by a spoken message or by a letter allegedly from us, to the effect that the Day of the Lord has come.
Do not let anyone deceive you by any means, because that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
who opposes and exalts himself above everything called “God” or every object of worship, so that he sits down in the sanctuary of God, displaying himself—that he is God.
Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
And you know what is holding him back now, so that he will be revealed when his time comes.
For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work, only the one now holding it back will do so until he is out of the way.
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy by the spirit from his mouth and put an end to him by the appearance of his coming.
The coming of the lawless one is a result of the activity of the Adversary with all kinds of power and counterfeit signs and wonders,
and with every kind of unrighteous deception for those who are destroying themselves because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
And because of this God sends them a deluding influence so that they believe a lie,
with the result that all who have not believed the truth, but took pleasure in unrighteousness, will be condemned.
Stand Firm
But we are obligated to give thanks to God always for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits for salvation through holiness produced by the spirit and belief in the truth.
He called you to this through our good news, so you can obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold on to the traditions that you were taught, whether by spoken message or letter from us.
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us everlasting encouragement and a good hope,
encourage and establish your hearts in every good work and word.