Colossians 2
Christian Standard Bible
2 For I want you to know how greatly I am struggling(A) for you, for those in Laodicea,(B) and for all who have not seen me in person. 2 I want their hearts to be encouraged(C) and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of complete understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery(D)—Christ.[a](E) 3 In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom(F) and knowledge.(G)
Christ versus the Colossian Heresy
4 I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with arguments that sound reasonable. 5 For I may be absent in body, but I am with you in spirit,(H) rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ.
6 So then, just as you have received(I) Christ Jesus as Lord,(J) continue to walk in him, 7 being rooted and built up in him(K) and established in the faith, just as you were taught,(L) and overflowing with gratitude.
8 Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition,(M) based on the elements of the world, rather than Christ.(N) 9 For the entire fullness(O) of God’s nature dwells bodily[b] in Christ, 10 and you have been filled by him, who is the head(P) over every ruler and authority. 11 You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh,(Q) in the circumcision of Christ,(R) 12 when you were buried with him(S) in baptism, in which you were also raised with him(T) through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.(U) 13 And 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. 14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.(V) 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.[c](W)
16 Therefore, don’t let anyone judge(X) you in regard to food and drink(Y) or in the matter of a festival or a new moon(Z) or a Sabbath day.[d] 17 These are a shadow(AA) of what was to come;(AB) the substance is[e] Christ.(AC) 18 Let no one condemn[f] you(AD) by delighting in ascetic practices(AE) and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm. Such people are inflated(AF) by empty notions of their unspiritual[g] mind. 19 They don’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body,(AG) nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with growth from God.
20 If you died with Christ(AH) to the elements of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: 21 “Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch”? 22 All these regulations refer to what is destined to perish by being used up; they are human commands and doctrines. 23 Although these have a reputation for wisdom(AI) by promoting self-made religion, false humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence.[h](AJ)
Footnotes
Colossians 2
King James Version
2 For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;
2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;
3 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.
5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
23 Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body: not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.
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