The Man of Lawlessness
1 Now concerning athe coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our bbeing gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,1 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or calarmed, either dby a spirit or a espoken word, or ea letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that fthe day of the Lord has come. 3 gLet no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, hunless the rebellion comes first, and ithe man of lawlessness2 is revealed, jthe son of destruction,3 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, kproclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For lthe mystery of lawlessness mis already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then nthe lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus owill kill with pthe breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by qthe appearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan rwith all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for sthose who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore tGod sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe uwhat is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned vwho did not believe the truth but whad pleasure in unrighteousness.
Stand Firm
13 But xwe ought always to give thanks to God for you, ybrothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you zas the firstfruits4 ato be saved, bthrough sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14 To this he called you through cour gospel, aso that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, dstand firm and hold to ethe traditions that you were taught by us, either fby our spoken word or by four letter.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, gwho loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hhope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and iestablish them in every good work and word.
O Lord, Deliver My Life
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to vThe Sheminith.1 A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, wrebuke me not in your anger,
nor xdiscipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;
yheal me, O Lord, zfor my bones are troubled.
3 My asoul also is greatly troubled.
But you, O Lord—bhow long?
4 Turn, O Lord, deliver my life;
save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5 For in cdeath there is no remembrance of you;
in Sheol who will give you praise?
6 I am dweary with my emoaning;
every night I flood my bed with tears;
I drench my couch with my weeping.
7 My feye wastes away because of grief;
it grows weak because of all my foes.
8 gDepart from me, all you hworkers of evil,
for the Lord ihas heard the sound of my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my jplea;
the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;
they shall kturn back and be put to shame in a moment.
