2:1 Now regarding the arrival 1 of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to be with him, 2 we ask you, brothers and sisters, 3 2:2 not to be easily 4 shaken from your composure or disturbed by any kind of spirit or message or letter allegedly from us, 5 to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 2:3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes 6 and the man of lawlessness 7 is revealed, the son of destruction. 8 2:4 He 9 opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat 10 in God’s temple, displaying himself as God. 11 2:5 Surely you recall 12 that I used to tell you these things while I was still with you. 2:6 And so 13 you know what holds him back, 14 so that he will be revealed in his own time. 2:7 For the hidden power of lawlessness 15 is already at work. However, the one who holds him back 16 will do so until he is taken out of the way, 2:8 and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord 17 will destroy by the breath of his mouth and wipe out by the manifestation of his arrival. 2:9 The arrival of the lawless one 18 will be by Satan’s working with all kinds of miracles 19 and signs and false wonders, 2:10 and with every kind of evil deception directed against 20 those who are perishing, because they found no place in their hearts for the truth 21 so as to be saved. 2:11 Consequently 22 God sends on them a deluding influence 23 so that they will believe what is false.