Colossians 2

1 For I would have you know what a great struggle I have for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;

I want you to know how great is my concern for you and those in Laodicea, even all who have not met me personally,

2 that their hearts may be encouraged, they being knit together in love, and that they may attain to all the riches of a full assurance of the understanding, to the full knowledge of the mystery of God;

that their hearts may be encouraged, being united in love and into a great wealth of confident understanding, into a real knowledge of the mystery of the God and Father and of the Christ,

3 in which are stored up all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

in whom all the treasures of the wisdom and the knowledge are hidden.

4 And this I say, that no one may impose on you by specious discourses.

Now I say this so that no one may deceive you with specious arguments.

5 For though I am absent in the flesh, yet in the spirit I am with you, rejoicing and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

For although in fact I am physically absent, yet my spirit is with you, rejoicing as I observe your orderliness and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

6 As therefore ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him,

So then, keep on walking in the Christ, Jesus the Sovereign, just as you received Him,

7 rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

having been rooted and being built up in Him and being established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

8 Beware lest there be some one who shall make a prey of you through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the rudiments of the world, and not according to Christ.

Be careful that no one captures you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the basic principles of the world and not according to Christ.

9 For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,

Because all the Fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him in bodily form,

10 and ye are made full in him, who is the head of all principality and power;

and you are complete in Him who is the head over all rule and authority.

11 in whom also ye have been circumcised with a circumcision not performed by hand, in putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ,

In Him you were also ‘circumcised’ by the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, not with a circumcision done by hands but with the circumcision of the Christ,

12 having been buried with him in your baptism; in which also ye were raised to life with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead;

having been buried with Him in the baptism. In Him you were also raised together through your faith in the productive power of the God who raised Him from among the dead.

13 and to you also who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he given life together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses;

Yes you, though being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh—He has made you alive together with Him; having forgiven us all our trespasses;

14 blotting out the handwriting in ordinances that was against us, which was opposed to us, he hath taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross;

having wiped out the written record about us that was against us (based on the ordinances), indeed He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross;

15 and having disarmed principalities and powers, he made a public show of them, and led them captive in triumph in him.

having stripped the principalities and the authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, having triumphed over them by it [the cross].

16 Let no one then call you to account about food or drink, or a feast-day, or a new moon, or sabbaths;

So do not let anyone judge you about food or drink, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or Sabbaths,

17 which are a shadow of the things to come, but the body is Christ's.

which things are but a shadow of those to come, while the body is Christ's.

18 Let no one defraud you of the prize, desiring to do it in humiliation and worshipping of the angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, puffed up without reason by the mind of his own flesh,

Nor let anyone disqualify you, taking pleasure in a subservience and devotion to the angels, ‘taking possession’ of things that he has not seen, being puffed up by his carnal mind to no useful purpose,

19 and not holding fast the Head, from which the whole body, supported and compacted by means of the joints and ligaments, groweth with an increase wrought by God.

and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, supported and held together by its joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.

20 If ye died with Christ to the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, do ye subject yourselves to ordinances, such as,

Now then, since you died with Christ away from the basic principles of the world, why, as though still living in it, are you subjecting yourselves to regulations

21 Handle not, Taste not, Touch not,

—Don't handle! Don't taste! Don't touch!—

22 (which all are to perish with the using, ) after the commandments and teachings of men;

(all of which result in corruption through overuse) according to the commands and teachings of men?

23 which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship and humiliation and severity to the body, not in any honor for the satisfying of the flesh.

Such things do indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and subservience and asceticism, but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.