19 For what is our hope or ^ajoy or crown of boasting ^bbefore our Lord Jesus at his ^ccoming? Is it not you?

13 so that he may ^aestablish your hearts blameless in holiness before ^wour God and Father, at ^bthe coming of our Lord Jesus ^cwith all his saints.

The Coming of the Lord

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, ^gthat you may not grieve as others do ^hwho have no hope. 14 For ⁱsince we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him ^jthose who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you ^kby a word from the Lord,¹ that ^lwe who are alive, who are left until ^mthe coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For ⁿthe Lord himself will descend ^ofrom heaven ^pwith a cry of command, with the voice of ^qan archangel, and ^rwith the sound of the trumpet of God. And ^sthe dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be ^tcaught up together with them ^uin the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so ^vwe will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

The Day of the Lord

1 Now concerning ^wthe times and the seasons, brothers,^{2 x}you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that ^ythe day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then ^zsudden destruction will come upon them ^aas labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you ^bare not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all ^cchildren³ of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then ^dlet us not sleep, as others do, but let us ^ekeep awake and ^fbe sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, ^gare drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, ^hhaving put on the breastplate of ⁱfaith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for ^jwrath, but ^kto obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 ^lwho died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

23 Now may ^bthe God of peace himself ^csanctify you completely, and may your ^dwhole ^espirit and soul and body be kept blameless at ^fthe coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

24 ^gHe who calls you is faithful; ^hhe will surely do it.

The Judgment at Christ’s Coming

5 This is ^fevidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be ^gconsidered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6 since indeed God considers it ^hjust ⁱto repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant ^jrelief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when ^kthe Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven ^lwith his mighty angels 8 ^min flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those ⁿwho do not know God and on those who ^odo not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of ^peternal destruction, ^qaway from¹ the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 ^rwhen he comes on ^sthat day ^tto be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our ^utestimony to you ^vwas believed. 11 To this end we ^walways pray for you, that our God may ^xmake you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every ^ywork of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus ^zmay be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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,² 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 lawlessness³ is revealed, ^jthe son of destruction,⁴ 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.