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2 Thessalonians 2:12

in order that judgment may come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness.
2 Thessalonians 2:12 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB that they all might be judged who didn’t believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
  • KJV That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
  • NKJV that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
  • NASB in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
  • NLT Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The result is that all who refused the truth and delighted in unrighteousness will be condemned. Judgment falls justly on settled love of evil.

Overview

Paul completes the thought: this delusion leads to a just condemnation of those who "had pleasure in unrighteousness" rather than believing the truth. The pairing of disbelief and delight in sin shows that unbelief is moral as well as intellectual. Against this dark backdrop the grace shown to believers in the next verses shines all the brighter.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 19

  • Rom 1:32Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.
  • Rom 8:7–8because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
  • Mark 16:16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
  • Rom 2:8But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger.
  • Hos 7:3They delight the king with their evil, and the princes with their lies.
  • 2 Pet 2:13–15The harm they will suffer is the wages of their wickedness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deception as they feast with you.
  • 1 Th 5:9For God has not appointed us to suffer wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
  • Ps 11:5The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked; His soul hates the lover of violence.
  • John 3:36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”
  • Jude 1:4–5For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
  • Mark 14:11They were delighted to hear this, and they promised to give him money. So Judas began to look for an opportunity to betray Jesus.
  • John 3:19–21And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.
  • Rom 12:9Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.
  • Deut 32:35Vengeance is Mine; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”
  • Ps 50:16–21To the wicked, however, God says, “What right have you to recite My statutes and to bear My covenant on your lips?
  • Mic 3:2You hate good and love evil. You tear the skin from my people and strip the flesh from their bones.
  • 3 Jn 1:11Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
  • Ps 52:3–4You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking truth. Selah
  • 2 Pet 2:3In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.

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Christ at the center

Christ will be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, glorified in his saints, overthrowing the lawless one — the certain hope that steadies the suffering church.

How 2 Thessalonians 2:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.