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2 Thessalonians 2:12

in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
2 Thessalonians 2:12 · New American 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.
  • BSB in order that judgment may come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness.
  • NKJV that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
  • 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 1:32who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.
  • Rom 8:7–8because the mind of the flesh is hostile towards God; for it is not subject to God’s law, neither indeed can it be.
  • Mark 16:16He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned.
  • Rom 2:8but to those who are self-seeking, and don’t obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath and indignation,
  • Hos 7:3They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.
  • 2 Pet 2:13–15receiving the wages of unrighteousness; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and defects, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you;
  • 1 Th 5:9For God didn’t appoint us to wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
  • Ps 11:5Yahweh examines the righteous, but the wicked and him who loves violence his soul hates.
  • John 3:36One who believes in the Son has eternal life, but one who disobeys the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
  • Jude 1:4–5For there are certain men who crept in secretly, even those who were long ago written about for this condemnation: ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into indecency, and denying our only Master, God, and Lord, Jesus Christ.
  • Mark 14:11They, when they heard it, were glad, and promised to give him money. He sought how he might conveniently deliver him.
  • John 3:19–21This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.
  • Rom 12:9Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good.
  • Deut 32:35Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at them.”
  • Ps 50:16–21But to the wicked God says, “What right do you have to declare my statutes, that you have taken my covenant on your lips,
  • Mic 3:2You who hate the good, and love the evil; who tear off their skin, and their flesh from off their bones;
  • 3 Jn 1:11Beloved, don’t imitate that which is evil, but that which is good. He who does good is of God. He who does evil hasn’t seen God.
  • Ps 52:3–4You love evil more than good, lying rather than speaking the truth. Selah.
  • 2 Pet 2:3In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber.

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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.