2 THESSALONIANS (ΠΡΟΣ ΘΕΣΣΑΛΟΝΙΚΕΙΣ Β)

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Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy: to the Church of the Thessalonians in God our Father, and in the Lord Jesus Christ. ²Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³We are bound to always give thanks to God for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith is growing wonderfully and your mutual love for all is overflowing. ⁴Therefore, in the Churches of God, we boast about you for your patience, faith in all your persecutions and for the afflictions which you endure. ⁵This is an obvious sign of the righteous judgment of God, so that you may be accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God, for which you too suffer. ⁶It is righteous for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you ⁷and to give relief to you who are afflicted with us. This will be when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, ⁸bringing vengeance to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. ⁹They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the face¹⁸⁹⁰ of the Lord and from the glory of his power, ¹⁰when he comes to be glorified in his holy ones¹⁸⁹¹ and to be admired among all those who have believed (because our testimony to you was believed) in that Day.

¹¹With this in mind, we also pray always for you, so that our God may account you worthy of your calling and fulfill with power [your] every desire of goodness and work of faith. ¹²May the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ¹⁸⁹² be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Apostasy and the man of sin

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering to him,¹⁸⁹³ we ask you ²not to be quickly shaken in your mind. Do not be troubled by a prophecy, report or letter allegedly from us, saying that the day of Christ has come. ³Let no one deceive you in any way! This will not take place unless the apostasy comes first and the man of sin¹⁸⁹⁴ is revealed, the son of destruction. ⁴He opposes and exalts himself over all that is called God or that is an object of religion to take his seat as God in the sanctuary of God, presenting¹⁸⁹⁵ himself as a god! ⁵Do you not remember that, when I was still with you, I told you these things? ⁶Now, you know¹⁸⁹⁶ what is restraining him, so that he may be revealed in his own time. ⁷The mystery of lawlessness is already at work!¹⁸⁹⁷ But now, there is one who restrains,¹⁸⁹⁸ until he is taken out of the way. ⁸Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the manifestation of his coming. ⁹The coming [of the lawless one] is according to Satan’s operation with all kinds of power, miracles and lying wonders,^{1899 10}and with all deception of wickedness aimed at those who are being lost, because they did not receive the love of the truth so that they might be saved. ¹¹Because of this, God sends them a strong delusion so that they should believe a lie ¹²and those who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness shall all be judged.

¹³Nevertheless, we must always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning¹⁹⁰⁰ for salvation through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief¹⁹⁰¹ in the truth. ¹⁴Indeed, he called you through our Good News to obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵And so, brethren, stand firm and keep the traditions which we taught you, whether by word or by letter.

¹⁶May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal consolation and good hope through grace, ¹⁷comfort your hearts and establish you in every good work and word.

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Request for prayers – Against those who refuse to work

As for other matters, brethren, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it is with you. ²Pray also that we may be delivered from unreasonable and evil men, for not all have faith. ³Still, the Lord is faithful; he will establish you and guard you from the evil one. ⁴We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you accomplish and will continue to accomplish the things which we command. ⁵May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the endurance of Christ.

⁶Now we command you, brethren, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to withdraw yourselves from every brother [or sister] who walks in rebellion, and not after the tradition which they received from us. ⁷You know how you should imitate us: we did not behave as rebels among you ⁸and we did not eat bread from anyone’s hand without paying for it. We were in labor and hardship, working night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. ⁹It is not because we do not have this right, but we wanted to be an example to you so that you might imitate us. ¹⁰For even when we were with you, we gave you this instruction: “Anyone who will not work should not eat either”. ¹¹Yet, we hear about some among you who live in rebellion, not working at all but interfering with other people’s lives. ¹²In the Lord Jesus Christ, we command and exhort those who live this way to work quietly and to eat their own bread.

¹³But you, brethren, do not grow tired of doing what is good. ¹⁴Take note of those who do not obey our word¹⁹⁰² in this letter: suspend your fellowship [with them] to bring them to shame. ¹⁵Do not consider such a person as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

¹⁶Now, may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. May the Lord be with you all!

¹⁷This is my greeting, Paul, with my own hand! This is the sign {of authenticity} in every letter: this is my handwriting. ¹⁸May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all! Amen.