Colossians 2
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New International VersionHolman Christian Standard 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 great a struggle I have for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me in person.
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,2I want their hearts to be encouraged and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God's mystery--Christ.
3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.3All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Him.
4I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.4I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive arguments.
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 I may be absent in body, but I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ.
6So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,6Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, 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 and established in the faith, just as you were taught, overflowing with gratitude.
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.8Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elemental forces of the world, and not based on Christ.
9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,9For the entire fullness of God's nature dwells bodily in Christ,
10and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.10and you have been filled by Him, 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,11You were also circumcised in Him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of the Messiah.
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.12Having been buried with Him in baptism, you were also raised with Him through faith in the working 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,13And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him and 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.14He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by 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.15He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; He triumphed over them by Him.
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, don't let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day.
17These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.17These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is the Messiah.
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.18Let no one disqualify you, insisting on ascetic practices and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm and inflated without cause 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 doesn't hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, develops with growth from God.
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 died with the Messiah to the elemental forces of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: "
21"Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"?21Don't handle, don't taste, don't 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.22All these regulations refer to what is destroyed by being used up; they are commands and doctrines of men.
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.23Although these have a reputation of wisdom by promoting ascetic practices, humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence.
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Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.
Colossians 1
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