2 THESS. 2: 4.

THE COMING OF THE LORD.

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God or is worshipped, so that he seats himself in the Temple of God, and keeps showing himself, so as to make it appear that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I used to tell you this? And now you know what the restraining influence is which prevents his appearing before his appointed time. Yes, the mystery of lawlessness is even now at work, but only till he who is at present exercising restraint is taken out of the way.

Then will the embodiment of lawlessness show himself.

And the Lord Jesus will cause him to waste away, With the breath of his mouth,

And utterly destroy him

With the brightness of his coming.

For at his coming there will be great activity on the part of Satan, in the shape of every kind of deceptive power, and signs and wonders, as well as in every wicked attempt to deceive those who are on their way to destruction, because they have continually refused to take the love of the truth to themselves for their salvation. It is for this reason God keeps sending on them a misleading influence to cause them to believe what is intended to deceive them, so that he might pass sentence on all those who refused to believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

Now, for our part, brothers, dearly loved by the Lord, it is our duty to keep giving thanks always for you, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation through devotion produced by the Spirit and through faith in the truth. And he called you to this by means of the Good News which we brought you, so that you might obtain the glorious condition of our Lord Jesus Christ. So, then, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the instructions which we gave you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

And, now, may our Lord Jesus Christ himself,

And God our Father, who loved us,

And, in his favor, gave us unfailing encouragement and a generous hope,

Give you hearty encouragement and strengthen you

In the performance of every generous word and deed.

In conclusion, brothers, pray for us, so that the Lord's message may spread rapidly and be received with honor just as it is among you, and so that we may be rescued from bad and wicked men. For it is not every one who accepts the faith.

Now the Lord is to be relied on, and he will

2 THESS. 3: 3.

EVERY BODY MUST WORK.

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strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. And, as for you, we trust in the Lord that you are now doing and will continue to do as we direct you.

May the Lord lead you into a hearty love for God and to such endurance as belongs to the Christ.

We direct you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from every brother who is disorderly in his mode of life, and does not conduct himself agreeably to the teaching which you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us. For we were in no way disorderly among you, nor did we eat any one's bread without paying for it. On the contrary, we used to be engaged at our trades in hard and wearisome labor night and day, so that we might not be a burden to any of you. And we did

this not because we had no right to receive support, but, on the contrary, so that we might make ourselves a pattern for you to imitate. And, indeed, when we were with you, we gave you this direction that if any one does not choose to work, neither let him eat. For we hear that some among you are disorderly in their mode of life. Instead of attending to their own business they keep going about meddling with the business of everybody else. Such persons we direct and urge, in the name of

3: 12.

the Lord Jesus, to quietly attend to their business and earn their own living. But you, for your part, brothers, must not grow weary in well doing. If any one does not listen to what we say in this letter, mark that man, and keep away from him, so that he may be ashamed. And yet do not treat him as an enemy, but, on the contrary, warn him as a brother.

And now may the Lord himself,

The author and giver of peace,

Give you peace at all times and in every way.
May the Lord be with you all.

And now I, Paul, with my own hand, add these closing words of greeting, and they are a mark of genuineness in all my letters. This is the way I write.

May the favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

I. CORINTHIANS.