| New International Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. | 1For I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me face to face, |
| 2My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, | 2that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, |
| 3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. | 3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. |
| 4I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. | 4I say this so that no one will deceive you by smooth rhetoric. |
| 5For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is. | 5For although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I delight to see your orderly condition and firm faith in Christ. |
| 6So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, | 6Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in Him, |
| 7rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. | 7rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. |
| 8See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. | 8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ. |
| 9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, | 9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form. |
| 10and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. | 10And you have been made complete in Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. |
| 11In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, | 11In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands. |
| 12having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. | 12And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead. |
| 13When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, | 13When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses, |
| 14having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. | 14having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross! |
| 15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. | 15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. |
| 16Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. | 16Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath. |
| 17These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. | 17These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Christ. |
| 18Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. | 18Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you with speculation about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up without basis by his unspiritual mind. |
| 19They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. | 19He has lost connection to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God causes it to grow. |
| 20Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: | 20If you have died with Christ to the spiritual forces of the world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its regulations: |
| 21"Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? | 21“Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”? |
| 22These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. | 22These will all perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. |
| 23Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. | 23Such restrictions indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-prescribed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body; but they are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. |
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