2 Thessalonians 2:3-10
3 Let no one in any way deceive or entrap you, for that day will not come unless the (a)apostasy comes first [that is, the great rebellion, the abandonment of the faith by professed Christians], and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction [the Antichrist, the one who is destined to be destroyed],(A)
4 who opposes and exalts himself [so proudly and so insolently] above (b)every so-called god or object of worship, so that he [actually enters and] takes his seat in the temple of God, publicly proclaiming that he himself is God.(B)
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I was telling you these things?
6 And you know what restrains him now [from being revealed]; it is so that he will be revealed at his own [appointed] time.
7 For the mystery of lawlessness [rebellion against divine authority and the coming reign of lawlessness] is already at work; [but it is restrained] only until he who now restrains it is taken out of the way.
8 Then the lawless one [the Antichrist] will be revealed and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of His mouth and bring him to an end by the appearance of His coming.(C)
9 The coming of the [Antichrist, the lawless] one is through the activity of Satan, [attended] with great power [all kinds of counterfeit miracles] and [deceptive] signs and false wonders [all of them lies],
10 and by unlimited seduction to evil and with all the deception of wickedness for those who are perishing, because they did not welcome the love of the truth [of the gospel] so as to be saved [they were spiritually blind, and rejected the truth that would have saved them].
Footnotes:
a.
2 Thessalonians 2:3: Paul is referring to a specific, future event.
b.
2 Thessalonians 2:4: Or everyone who is called God.