Colossians 2
1 In particular, I want you to realize that I am (exerting myself very greatly/working very hard) on your behalf, on behalf of those who are in Laodicea [city], and on behalf of all those others who have not seen me personally.
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;
2 I am doing this in order that they and you [SYN] might be strengthened [spiritually] as you are united in loving [one another]. And I am doing this in order that they and you might fully and thoroughly [DOU] understand the message that God has now revealed; that is, in order that they and you might truly know the message from God our Father and about Christ,
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,
3 who alone is able to cause them and you to understand thoroughly [DOU] [this very important message].
in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge.
4 I am telling you this in order that no one may deceive you by persuasive arguments;
And this I say, lest any one should mislead you by the persuasiveness of words.
5 because, even though I am absent from you physically, I am very concerned about you. At the same time, I am rejoicing because I know that you are united [with each other] and that you believe firmly in Christ.
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.
6 In a way that is (consistent/in harmony) with [the message that] you received about Christ Jesus, who is our Lord, conduct yourselves as you should, since you have a close relationship with him.
As therefore ye have received Jesus the Messiah our Lord, walk ye in him,
7 Specifically, continue believing and practicing [MET, DOU] what you were first taught about Christ. Continue to do this more and more; continue to fIrmly believe all the true teaching, just like [Epaphras] taught it to you. And continue thanking [God, our Father], very much [for all that he has done for you].
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.
8 Make sure that no one forces you [(pl)] to become his disciples [MET] by his teaching you a religious philosophy/doctrine that is worthless and false. Such a philosophy is false because it teaches what mere human beings think, because it teaches people elementary regulations/rules [that are concerned merely with what is external/physical], and because it teaches what is contrary to [the true teaching about] Christ.
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,
9 It is in Christ’s body that God lives completely.
in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Divinity corporeally.
10 And you are spiritually complete because you have a close relationship with Christ, who rules over every other ruler.
And in him ye are also complete, because he is the head of all principalities and authorities.
11 Specifically, because of your close relationship with Christ, it is as though [MET] you were circumcised {Christ circumcised you} [spiritually]. This does not mean that someone circumcised you physically [MTY], but it means that Christ completely removed your self-directed nature.
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.
12 And specifically, when you were baptized, [it was as though] [MET] you [had died and] were buried with Christ, and [it was as though] [MET] God caused you to live again with Christ as a result of your believing that God acted powerfully; specifically, by your believing that God caused Christ to become alive again.
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.
13 And specifically, you [who are non-Jews], because of your sins, you were [spiritually] dead [before you trusted in Christ]. You were uncircumcised [spiritually]; that is, your self-directed nature controlled you. Nevertheless, it was you whom God caused to become alive [spiritually because of their close relationship] [MET] with Christ. And specifically, God forgave us all our sins.
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:
14 [It is just] as [though] he canceled ([the charges] against us/the sins [that we had committed]) for which [God] will punish us. And [it was just] as [though] [MET] it was [the charges on] that document/paper that he canceled by nailing them to the cross [when they nailed Christ on the cross].
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.
15 And specifically, God defeated the [evil] spirit beings that rule, and he demonstrated/showed that publicly; that is, he triumphed over them as a result of what [Christ did].
And, by yielding up his body, he showed contempt for principalities and authorities; and put them to shame, openly, in his own person.
16 So disregard anyone who says that God will punish you because you eat [certain foods] and because you drink [certain drinks] or because [you do not celebrate] special [yearly] festivals or celebrate the time when the new moon [appears] or weekly (Sabbaths/Jewish days of rest).
Let no one therefore disquiet you about food and drink, or about the distinctions of festivals, and new moons, and sabbaths;
17 [Disregard such people] because those [regulations/rules about food and drink and festivals] are [only] like a shadow [MET] [that is cast by something that is approaching; that is, they merely represent] the real spiritual blessings that Christ [has given to you].
which were shadows of the things then future; but the body is the Messiah.
18 Disregard those who say that God will punish you because [you do not worship God in the way that] they say [that you should]; that is, they insist that you should humiliate yourselves and that you should worship the angels. [Disregard such people] since they base their authority on things that they have never seen, and since they are proud without reason because their self-directed nature [controls] what they think,
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,
19 and since they do not teach the true teaching about Christ [MET]. [Christ is the one who causes all of his people to develop/grow spiritually as God plans that they should develop/grow, just like] [MET] a person’s head directs how his body grows, as it is held together by its joints and ligaments.
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.
20 [It is as though] [MET] you died with Christ. So [you no longer have to obey] elementary regulations/rules [that are concerned merely with what is external/physical, just like a dead person no longer has to do anything]. So, do not submit to regulations/rules
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?
21 such as ‘Do not handle [certain things]’, ‘Do not taste [certain things]’, ‘Do not touch [certain things]’, as if you still had to obey such regulations/rules.
But, touch thou not, and taste thou not, and handle thou not:
22 All those things are intended to cease to exist when we use them. [And do not obey such regulations/rules], because they are what mere human teachers command and teach.
for these things perish in the using; and they are the commandments and doctrines of men.
23 [Do not obey such] regulations/rules; they only cause people to do what their self-directed nature wants to do. [Those regulations] seem to be wise because they [urge people to] worship as mere human teachers have decided. [They urge] that [people] should humiliate themselves, and that [people] should treat their bodies harshly. But those regulations/rules do not help [people] at all to not do the sinful things that their self-directed nature wants to do.
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.
