Passage

2 Thessalonians 2

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. Now we beseech you, brethren, touching the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him; 2. to the end that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by epistle as from us, as that the day of the Lord is just at hand; 3. let no man beguile you in any wise: for it will not be, except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, 4. he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God. 5. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6. And now ye know that which restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. 7. For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way. 8. And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of his coming; 9. even he, whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10. and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11. And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie: 12. that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 13. But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, for that God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14. whereunto he called you through our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15. So then, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye were taught, whether by word, or by epistle of ours. 16. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17. comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word." (2 Thessalonians 2:1-17, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. Now, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to him, we ask you 2. not to be quickly shaken in your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by letter as from us, saying that the day of Christ had come. 3. Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be, unless the departure comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction, 4. he who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself up as God. 5. Don’t you remember that, when I was still with you, I told you these things? 6. Now you know what is restraining him, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. 7. For the mystery of lawlessness already works. Only there is one who restrains now, until he is taken out of the way. 8. Then 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; 9. even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10. and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11. Because of this, God sends them a working of error, that they should believe a lie; 12. that they all might be judged who didn’t believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 13. But we are bound to always give thanks to God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth; 14. to which he called you through our Good News, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15. So then, brothers, stand firm, and hold the traditions which you were taught by us, whether by word, or by letter. 16. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17. comfort your hearts and establish you in every good work and word." (2 Thessalonians 2:1-17, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, ^{unto him: or, around him} 2. That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4. Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6. And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. ^{withholdeth: or, holdeth} 7. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9. Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12. That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 13. But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14. Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15. Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. 16. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, 17. Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work." (2 Thessalonians 2:1-17, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. And we ask you, brethren, in regard to the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of our gathering together unto him, 2. that ye be not quickly shaken in mind, nor be troubled, neither through spirit, neither through word, neither through letters as through us, as that the day of Christ hath arrived; 3. let not any one deceive you in any manner, because, if the falling away may not come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of the destruction, 4. who is opposing and is raising himself up above all called God or worshipped, so that he in the sanctuary of God as God hath sat down, shewing himself off that he is God, [the day doth not come]. 5. Do ye not remember that, being yet with you, these things I said to you? 6. and now, what is keeping down ye have known, for his being revealed in his own time, 7. for the secret of the lawlessness doth already work, only he who is keeping down now [will hinder], till he may be out of the way, 8. and then shall be revealed the Lawless One, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the manifestation of his presence, 9. [him,] whose presence is according to the working of the Adversary, in all power, and signs, and lying wonders, 10. and in all deceitfulness of the unrighteousness in those perishing, because the love of the truth they did not receive for their being saved, 11. and because of this shall God send to them a working of delusion, for their believing the lie, 12. that they may be judged, all who did not believe the truth, but were well pleased in the unrighteousness. 13. And we, we ought to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, that God did choose you from the beginning to salvation, in sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth, 14. to which He did call you through our good news, to the acquiring of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ; 15. so, then, brethren, stand ye fast, and hold the deliverances that ye were taught, whether through word, whether through our letter; 16. and may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and our God and Father, who did love us, and did give comfort age-during, and good hope in grace, 17. comfort your hearts, and establish you in every good word and work." (2 Thessalonians 2:1-17, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.