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2nd Thessalonians1This letter is from Paul, Silas, and

Timothy. It is written to the church inThessalonica, you who belong to Godour Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.2May God our Father and the LordJesus Christ give you grace and peace.3Dear brothers and sisters, we alwaysthank God for you, as is right, for we arethankful that your faith is flourishing andyou are all growing in love for eachother.4We proudly tell God's other churchesabout your endurance and faithfulnessin all the persecutions and hardshipsyou are suffering.5But God will use this persecution toshow his justice. For he will make youworthy of his Kingdom, for which youare suffering,6and in his justice he will punish thosewho persecute you.7And God will provide rest for you whoare being persecuted and also for uswhen the Lord Jesus appears fromheaven. He will come with his mightyangels,8in flaming fire, bringing judgment onthose who don't know God and on thosewho refuse to obey the Good News ofour Lord Jesus.9They will be punished with everlastingdestruction, forever separated from theLord and from his glorious power10when he comes to receive glory andpraise from his holy people. And you willbe among those praising him on thatday, for you believed what we testifiedabout him.11And so we keep on praying for you,that our God will make you worthy of thelife to which he called you. And we praythat God, by his power, will fulfill all yourgood intentions and faithful deeds.12Then everyone will give honor to thename of our Lord Jesus because of you,and you will be honored along with him.This is all made possible because of theundeserved favor of our God and Lord,Jesus Christ.

2And now, brothers and sisters, let us

tell you about the coming again of ourLord Jesus Christ and how we will begathered together to meet him.2Please don't be so easily shaken andtroubled by those who say that the day

of the Lord has already begun. Even ifthey claim to have had a vision, arevelation, or a letter supposedly fromus, don't believe them.3Don't be fooled by what they say. Forthat day will not come until there is agreat rebellion against God and the manof lawlessness is revealed--the one whobrings destruction.4He will exalt himself and defy every godthere is and tear down every object ofadoration and worship. He will positionhimself in the temple of God, claimingthat he himself is God.5Don't you remember that I told you thiswhen I was with you?6And you know what is holding him back,for he can be revealed only when histime comes.7For this lawlessness is already at worksecretly, and it will remain secret untilthe one who is holding it back steps outof the way.8Then the man of lawlessness will berevealed, whom the Lord Jesus willconsume with the breath of his mouthand destroy by the splendor of hiscoming.9This evil man will come to do the workof Satan with counterfeit power andsigns and miracles.10He will use every kind of wickeddeception to fool those who are on theirway to destruction because they refuseto believe the truth that would save them.11So God will send great deception uponthem, and they will believe all these lies.12Then they will be condemned for notbelieving the truth and for enjoying theevil they do.13As for us, we always thank God foryou, dear brothers and sisters loved bythe Lord. We are thankful that Godchose you to be among the first toexperience salvation, a salvation thatcame through the Spirit who makes youholy and by your belief in the truth.14He called you to salvation when wetold you the Good News; now you canshare in the glory of our Lord JesusChrist.15With all these things in mind, dearbrothers and sisters, stand firm andkeep a strong grip on everything wetaught you both in person and by letter.16May our Lord Jesus Christ and Godour Father, who loved us and in hisspecial favor gave us everlastingcomfort and good hope,17comfort your hearts and give you

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strength in every good thing you do andsay.

3Finally, dear brothers and sisters, I

ask you to pray for us. Pray first that theLord's message will spread rapidly andbe honored wherever it goes, just aswhen it came to you.2Pray, too, that we will be saved fromwicked and evil people, for not everyonebelieves in the Lord.3But the Lord is faithful; he will make youstrong and guard you from the evil one.4And we are confident in the Lord thatyou are practicing the things wecommanded you, and that you alwayswill.5May the Lord bring you into an everdeeper understanding of the love of Godand the endurance that comes fromChrist.6And now, dear brothers and sisters, wegive you this command with theauthority of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stayaway from any Christian who lives inidleness and doesn't follow the traditionof hard work we gave you.7For you know that you ought to followour example. We were never lazy whenwe were with you.8We never accepted food from anyonewithout paying for it. We worked hardday and night so that we would not be aburden to any of you.9It wasn't that we didn't have the right toask you to feed us, but we wanted togive you an example to follow.10Even while we were with you, we gaveyou this rule: "Whoever does not workshould not eat."11Yet we hear that some of you areliving idle lives, refusing to work andwasting time meddling in other people'sbusiness.12In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,we appeal to such people--no, wecommand them: Settle down and get towork. Earn your own living.13And I say to the rest of you, dearbrothers and sisters, never get tired ofdoing good.14Take note of those who refuse to obeywhat we say in this letter. Stay awayfrom them so they will be ashamed.15Don't think of them as enemies, butspeak to them as you would to aChristian who needs to be warned.16May the Lord of peace himself alwaysgive you his peace no matter whathappens. The Lord be with you all.

17Now here is my greeting, which I writewith my own hand--PAUL. I do this atthe end of all my letters to prove thatthey really are from me.18May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christbe with you all.