Colossians 2

1 And I wish you to know, what a struggle I have for you, and for them of Laodicea, and for the others who have not seen my face in the flesh;

For I want you to know the kind of solicitude that I have for you, and for those who are at Laodicea, as well as for those who have not seen my face in the flesh.

2 that their hearts may be comforted, and that they, by love, may come to all the riches of assurance, and to the understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God the Father, and of the Messiah,

May their hearts be consoled and instructed in charity, with all the riches of a plenitude of understanding, with knowledge of the mystery of God the Father and of Christ Jesus.

3 in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge.

For in him are hidden all treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

4 And this I say, lest any one should mislead you by the persuasiveness of words.

Now I say this, so that no one may deceive you with grandiose words.

5 For though I am separated from you in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit; and I rejoice at beholding your good order, and the stability of your faith in the Messiah.

For though I may be absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit. And I rejoice as I gaze upon your order and its foundation, which is in Christ, your faith.

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

Therefore, just as you have received the Lord Jesus Christ, walk in him.

7 strengthening your roots and building up yourselves in him, and establishing yourselves in the faith which ye have learned, in which may ye abound in thanksgiving.

Be rooted and continually built up in Christ. And be confirmed in the faith, just as you have also learned it, increasing in him with acts of thanksgiving.

8 Beware, lest any man make you naked by philosophy, and by vain deception, according to the doctrines of men, according to the rudiments of the world, and not according to the Messiah,

See to it that no one deceives you through philosophy and empty falsehoods, as found in the traditions of men, in accord with the influences of the world, and not in accord with Christ.

9 in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Divinity corporeally.

For in him, all the fullness of the Divine Nature dwells bodily.

10 And in him ye are also complete, because he is the head of all principalities and authorities.

And in him, you have been filled; for he is the head of all principality and power.

11 And in him ye have been circumcised with a circumcision without hands, by casting off the flesh of sins, by a circumcision of the Messiah.

In him also, you have been circumcised with a circumcision not made by hand, not by the despoiling of the body of flesh, but by the circumcision of Christ.

12 And ye have been buried with him, by baptism; and by it ye have risen with him; while ye believed in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

You have been buried with him in baptism. In him also, you have risen again through faith, by the work of God, who raised him up from the dead.

13 And you, who were dead in your sins, and by the uncircumcision of your flesh, he hath vivified with him; and he hath forgiven us all our sins:

And when you were dead in your transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he enlivened you, together with him, forgiving you of all transgressions,

14 and, by his mandates, he blotted out the handwriting of our debts, which handwriting existed against us, and took it from the midst, and affixed it to his cross.

and wiping away the handwriting of the decree which was against us, which was contrary to us. And he has taken this away from your midst, affixing it to the Cross.

15 And, by yielding up his body, he showed contempt for principalities and authorities; and put them to shame, openly, in his own person.

And so, despoiling principalities and powers, he has led them away confidently and openly, triumphing over them in himself.

16 Let no one therefore disquiet you about food and drink, or about the distinctions of festivals, and new moons, and sabbaths;

Therefore, let no one judge you as concerns food or drink, or a particular feast day, or feast days of new moons, or of Sabbaths.

17 which were shadows of the things then future; but the body is the Messiah.

For these are a shadow of the future, but the body is of Christ.

18 And let no one wish, by abasing the mind, to bring you under bonds, that ye subject yourselves to the worship of angels; while he is prying into that which he hath not seen, and is vainly inflated in his fleshly mind,

Let no one seduce you, preferring base things and a religion of Angels, walking according to what he has not seen, being vainly inflated by the sensations of his flesh,

19 and holdeth not the head, from which the whole body is framed and constructed, with joints and members, and groweth with the growth given of God.

and not holding up the head, with which the whole body, by its underlying joints and ligaments, is joined together and grows with an increase that is of God.

20 For if ye are dead with the Messiah from the rudiments of the world, why are ye judged as if ye were living in the world?

So then, if you have died with Christ to the influences of this world, why do you still make decisions as if you were living in the world?

21 But, touch thou not, and taste thou not, and handle thou not:

Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle these things,

22 for these things perish in the using; and they are the commandments and doctrines of men.

which all lead to destruction by their very use, in accord with the precepts and doctrines of men.

23 And they seem to have a kind of wisdom, in a show of humility, and of the fear of God, and of not sparing the body; not in any thing of excellence, but in things subservient to the body.

Such ideas have at least an intention to attain to wisdom, but through superstition and debasement, not sparing the body, and they are without any honor in satiating the flesh.