2 Thessalonians 2:3-8 — Paraphrase
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3 Do not let anyone mislead you in any way.
The Day of the Lord will not come until the great falling-away occurs first and the Man of Lawlessness—the one marked out for destruction—is finally exposed.

4 He will stand in open defiance of every object of worship and every so-called god, even taking his seat in God’s own temple and presenting himself as though he were God.

5 You remember that I explained these things when I was with you.

6 And now you understand what holds all this back: God Himself is restraining the final outbreak of apostasy, keeping the Man of Lawlessness from being revealed until the time He has determined.

7 For the hidden power of lawlessness is already at work; but God’s own hand still withholds the climactic rebellion, because He has not yet released the strong delusion that will drive it to completion. Only when that divine restraint is lifted will the Man of Lawlessness step into full view.

8 Then the Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of His mouth and bring him to nothing by the brightness of His coming.

How this differs from earlierer versions.

• It names God’s restraining action as the reason the final apostasy has not yet erupted.
• It links the restraint specifically to God’s not yet sending the “strong delusion” of verse 11.
• It keeps the sequence clear:
  present hidden lawlessness → God’s restraint → God releases the delusion → full apostasy and revelation of the Man of Lawlessness → Christ’s destruction of him.