1
“In the fourth year of the appointed king, the son of lawlessness shall appear and say, ‘I am the Anointed.’ Do not believe him.”
2
“The true Anointed will not need secret chambers or provincial rumor to prove his coming.”
3
“His manifestation will be like light seen from east to west, and the heavenly host will accompany him.”
4
“But the son of lawlessness will stand in set-apart places and make himself a spectacle before the people.”
5
“He will perform deceptive signs.”
6
“Before witnesses he will appear to command the sun, though he does not own its course.”
7
“He will appear to command the moon and stars.”
8
“He will show false wonders upon the earth and in the heavens.”
9
“He will cause the lame to appear to walk and the blind to appear to see.”
10
“Yet the signs will not bear the fruit of the true Deliverer.”
11
“He will not truly raise the dead, because the breath of life is not his possession.”
12
“This will become one of the signs by which the discerning know him.”
13
“His bodily appearance also bears marks that deception cannot erase.”
14
“The surviving Coptic witness describes him as small or misshapen in part, with unusual limbs and disordered features.”
15
“He will alter his appearance, now presenting himself as old, now as young.”
16
“He will shift his visible form to deceive those who judge only by appearance.”
17
“But the sign of his head will remain beyond his power to change.”
18
“By this and by the fruit of his violence you shall know the son of lawlessness.”