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“We Beg You...Not to Become So Quickly Disturbed or Alarmed”
1 Now we beg you, brothers and sisters, in regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus the Messiah and our being gathered to him,
2 not to become so quickly disturbed or alarmed when someone claims—whether by some spirit, or through some fine-sounding message, or by a letter supposedly from us—that the Day of the Lord is already here.
3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way! For that Day will be here only when the rebellion has taken place and the man of wickedness been revealed—the man doomed to destruction,
4 who is going to oppose and “exalt himself”+ above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he “seats himself”+ in the very sanctuary of God, publicly declaring himself to be God.
5 Surely you remember, don’t you, that I spoke to you at length about these matters when I was still with you?
6 And now you know what it is that is preventing the wicked one from appearing,+ so that he may be revealed at his own appointed time.
7 The mystery, you see, is already at work—the hidden power behind “Wickedness”+— and will be unmasked only when the one who is presently preventing the wicked one’s appearance+ gets out of the way.
8 Only then will the wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing through his appearing when he comes.
9 When the wicked one comes, he will be empowered by Satan, exercising full power and performing all kinds of counterfeit signs and wonders,
10 and doing every wicked thing he can to deceive those who will be consigned to utter ruin for having rejected this: A love for the truth, by which they could have been saved.
11 That is also the reason why God is going to send deceiving power to operate among them, as a result of which, according to his purpose, they will put their faith in “the lie.”+
12 And so all those who did not put their faith in the truth, but gladly chose wickedness, will be condemned.
13 But as for us, we can’t help but give thanks to God at all times for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, that he chose you for himself as a “firstfruits”+ for salvation, setting you apart by the Spirit when you placed your faith in the truth.
14 To this he summoned you through our gospel, so that you may share in the glory of our Lord Jesus the Messiah.
15 So, in light of all these things, brothers and sisters, stand firm, and keep faithfully adhering to the body of true teaching that we passed on to you, whether by verbal instruction or by our letter.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus the Messiah himself and God our Father, who showed his love to us and gave us encouragement concerning life in the coming age and a dependable hope by his gift,
17 encourage you within and strengthen you to always do and say what is good.