2 Thessalonians 1:8

1:8 With flaming fire he will mete out ¹  punishment on those who do not know God ²  and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

2 Thessalonians 1:10

1:10 when he comes to be glorified among his saints and admired ³  on that day among all who have believed – and you did in fact believe our testimony. ⁴ 

2 Thessalonians 2:7

2:7 For the hidden power of lawlessness ⁵  is already at work. However, the one who holds him back ⁶  will do so until he is taken out of the way,

2 Thessalonians 2:14

2:14 He called you to this salvation ⁷  through our gospel, so that you may possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁸ 

2 Thessalonians 3:10

3:10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this command: “If anyone is not willing to work, neither should he eat.”

2 Thessalonians 3:14

3:14 But if anyone does not obey our message through this letter, take note of him and do not associate closely with him, so that he may be ashamed.

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¹ tn Grk “meting out,” as a description of Jesus Christ in v. 7. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 8 in the translation.

² sn An allusion to Jer 10:25, possibly also to Ps 79:6 and Isa 66:15.

³ tn Or “marveled at.”

⁴ tn Grk “because our testimony to you was believed.”

⁵ tn Grk “the mystery of lawlessness.” In Paul “mystery” often means “revealed truth, something formerly hidden but now made widely known,” but that does not make sense with the verb of this clause (“to be at work, to be active”).

⁶ tn Grk “the one who restrains.” This gives a puzzling contrast to the impersonal phrase in v. 6 (“the thing that restrains”). The restraint can be spoken of as a force or as a person. Some have taken this to mean the Roman Empire in particular or human government in general, since these are forces that can also be seen embodied in a person, the emperor or governing head. But apocalyptic texts like Revelation and Daniel portray human government of the end times as under Satanic control, not holding back his influence. Also the power to hold back Satanic forces can only come from God. So others understand this restraint to be some force from God: the preaching of the gospel or the working of the Holy Spirit through God’s people.

⁷ tn Grk “to which,” referring to the main idea of v. 13.

⁸ sn That you may possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. For Paul the ultimate stage of salvation is glorification (Rom 8:30).