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2 Thessalonians 3:2
ESV and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith.
NIV And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith.
NASB and that we will be rescued from troublesome and evil people; for not all have the faith.
CSB and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not all have faith.
NLT Pray, too, that we will be rescued from wicked and evil people, for not everyone is a believer.
KJV And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.

What does 2 Thessalonians 3:2 mean?

In this verse Paul continues his prayer request. He asks the Thessalonians to pray that he would be delivered from perverse and evil men. The word translated "evil" in this verse is ponērōn, meaning "actively harmful." It suggests the enemies of the gospel actively pursued others to enlist them in opposing the gospel. Paul made a similar prayer request in Romans 15:30–31. He asked the brothers at Rome: "I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea."

It seems Paul met with vicious opposition almost everywhere he went. In 2 Corinthians 11:21–29 he lists his sufferings for the sake of the gospel. Among those sufferings were imprisonments, countless beatings, five occasions of receiving 39 lashes, and three occasions of being beaten with rods. He points out in 2 Thessalonians 3:2 that "not all have faith." His enemies were hardened unbelievers.
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