| International Standard Version | English Standard Version |
| 1For I want you to know how much I struggle for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have never seen me face to face. | 1For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, |
| 2Because they are united in love, I pray that their hearts may be encouraged by all the riches that come from a complete understanding of the full knowledge of the Messiah, who is the mystery of God. | 2that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, |
| 3In him are stored all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. | 3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. |
| 4I say this so that no one will mislead you with nice-sounding rhetoric. | 4I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. |
| 5For although I am physically absent, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how stable you are and how firm your faith in the Messiah is. | 5For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. |
| 6So then, just as you have received the Messiah Jesus the Lord, continue to live dependent on him. | 6Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, |
| 7For you have been rooted in him and are being built up and strengthened in the faith, just as you were taught, while you continue to be thankful. | 7rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. |
| 8See to it that no one enslaves you through philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to the Messiah, | 8See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. |
| 9because all the essence of deity inhabits him in bodily form. | 9For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, |
| 10And you have been filled by him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. | 10and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. |
| 11In union with him you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without human hands by stripping off the corrupt nature by the circumcision performed by the Messiah. | 11In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, |
| 12When you were buried with the Messiah in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. | 12having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. |
| 13Even when you were dead because of your offenses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with him when he forgave us all of our offenses, | 13And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, |
| 14having erased the charges that were brought against us, along with their obligations that were hostile to us. He took those charges away when he nailed them to the cross. | 14by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. |
| 15And when he had disarmed the rulers and the authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in the cross. | 15He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. |
| 16Therefore, let no one judge you in matters of food and drink or with respect to a festival, a New Moon, or Sabbath days. | 16Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. |
| 17These are a shadow of the things to come, but the reality belongs to the Messiah. | 17These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. |
| 18Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels cheat you out of the prize by rejoicing about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up for no reason by his carnal mind. | 18Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, |
| 19He does not hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, which is nourished and held together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God enables it. | 19and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. |
| 20If you have died with the Messiah to the basic principles of the world, why are you submitting to its decrees as though you still lived in the world? | 20If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— |
| 21"Don't handle this! Don't taste or touch that!" | 21“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” |
| 22All of these things will be destroyed as they are used, because they are based on human commands and teachings. | 22(referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? |
| 23These things have the appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion, humility, and harsh treatment of the body, but they have no value against self-indulgence. | 23These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
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