⁶ Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore^(A) the kingdom to Israel?”

⁷ He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.^(B)

⁷ For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back^(A) will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. ⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed,^(B) whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth^(C) and destroy by the splendor of his coming.^{(D) 9} The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan^(E) works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders^(F) that serve the lie, ¹⁰ and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing.^(G) They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.^{(H) 11} For this reason God sends them^(I) a powerful delusion^(J) so that they will believe the lie^{(K) 12} and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.^(L)