Colossians 2
1 I want you to know how hard I'm working for you, and for those at Laodicea—in fact for all those who haven't met me personally—
For I would have you know what combat I have for you, and those in Laodicea, and as many as have not seen my face in flesh;
2 so that you may be encouraged. May you be bound together in love, experiencing the great benefit of being completely sure in your understanding, for this is what the true knowledge of God brings. May you know the revealed mystery of God, which is Christ!
to the end that their hearts may be encouraged, being united together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to [the] full knowledge of the mystery of God;
3 In him you can discover all the rich wisdom and knowledge of God.
in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge.
4 I'm telling you this so that no one will fool you by spinning you a tale.
And I say this to the end that no one may delude you by persuasive speech.
5 Even though I'm not physically there with you, I'm with you in spirit. I'm so happy to see the way you stick together and how firm you are in your trust in Christ.
For if indeed in the flesh I am absent, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order, and the firmness of your faith in Christ.
6 Just as you accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, go on following him,
As therefore ye have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in him,
7 grounded in him and built up by him. May your trust in him continue to grow strong, following what you were taught, full of gratitude to God.
rooted and built up in him, and assured in the faith, even as ye have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
8 Watch out that nobody enslaves you through their philosophy and worthless delusions, following human traditions and concepts of this world, and not following Christ.
See that there be no one who shall lead you away as a prey through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the teaching of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ.
9 For the fullness of God's divine nature lives in Christ in bodily form,
For in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily;
10 and you have been made full in him. He is supreme over every ruler and authority.
and ye are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and authority,
11 You were “circumcised” in him but not by human hands. You have been set free from sinful human nature by the “circumcision” Christ performed.
in whom also ye have been circumcised with circumcision not done by hand, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of the Christ;
12 You were buried with him in baptism, and you were raised with him through your trust in what God did by raising him from the dead.
buried with him in baptism, in which ye have been also raised with [him] through faith of the working of God who raised him from among the dead.
13 And even though you were dead because of your sins and being physically “uncircumcised,” he brought you to life together with him. He has forgiven us all our sins.
And you, being dead in offences and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has quickened together with him, having forgiven us all the offences;
14 He wiped out the record of our debts according to the Law that was written down against us; he took away this barrier by nailing it to the cross.
having effaced the handwriting in ordinances which [stood out] against us, which was contrary to us, he has taken it also out of the way, having nailed it to the cross;
15 He stripped away the power of spiritual rulers and authorities, and having publicly revealed what they were truly like, he led them captive behind him in victory.
having spoiled principalities and authorities, he made a show of them publicly, leading them in triumph by it.
16 So don't let anyone criticize you for what you eat or what you drink, or regarding which religious festival, new moon ritual, or ceremonial sabbaths you choose to observe.
Let none therefore judge you in meat or in drink, or in matter of feast, or new moon, or sabbaths,
17 These are just a shadow of what was to come, for the physical reality is Christ.
which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Christ.
18 Don't let anyone cheat you out of your prize by insisting you have to beat yourself, or worship angels. They think they are better than anyone else because of visions they say they've had, and become ridiculously conceited in their sinful minds.
Let no one fraudulently deprive you of your prize, doing his own will in humility and worship of angels, entering into things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by the mind of his flesh,
19 Such people are not connected to the head that directs the body, nourished and joined together through the body's sinews and muscles. As the body is united together it grows the way God wants it to grow.
and not holding fast the head, from whom all the body, ministered to and united together by the joints and bands, increases with the increase of God.
20 If you died with Christ to the religious demands that this world insists upon, why would you make yourself subject to such demands as if you were still part of this world?
If ye have died with Christ from the elements of the world, why as [if] alive in [the] world do ye subject yourselves to ordinances?
21 Things like: don't handle that, don't taste that, don't touch that!
Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch,
22 These commands refer to things that don't last since they're used up, and they're based on man-made requirements and teachings.
(things which are all for destruction in the using [of them]: ) according to the injunctions and teachings of men,
23 Such rules may make some kind of sense to those who practice self-centered piety, who are so proud of being humble, and who “mortify the body;” but in reality they don't help at all in dealing with sinful desires.
(which have indeed an appearance of wisdom in voluntary worship, and humility, and harsh treatment of the body, not in a certain honour, ) to [the] satisfaction of the flesh.
