Colossians 2
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1I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.1For I want you to know how much I struggle for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have never seen me face to face.
2My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,2Because they are united in love, I pray that their hearts may be encouraged by all the riches that come from a complete understanding of the full knowledge of the Messiah, who is the mystery of God.
3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.3In him are stored all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.4I say this so that no one will mislead you with nice-sounding rhetoric.
5For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.5For although I am physically absent, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how stable you are and how firm your faith in the Messiah is.
6So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,6So then, just as you have received the Messiah Jesus the Lord, continue to live dependent on him.
7rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.7For you have been rooted in him and are being built up and strengthened in the faith, just as you were taught, while you continue to be thankful.
8See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.8See to it that no one enslaves you through philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to the Messiah,
9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,9because all the essence of deity inhabits him in bodily form.
10and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.10And you have been filled by him, who is the head of every ruler and authority.
11In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ,11In union with him you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without human hands by stripping off the corrupt nature by the circumcision performed by the Messiah.
12having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.12When you were buried with the Messiah in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
13When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,13Even when you were dead because of your offenses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with him when he forgave us all of our offenses,
14having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.14having erased the charges that were brought against us, along with their obligations that were hostile to us. He took those charges away when he nailed them to the cross.
15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.15And when he had disarmed the rulers and the authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in the cross.
16Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.16Therefore, let no one judge you in matters of food and drink or with respect to a festival, a New Moon, or Sabbath days.
17These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.17These are a shadow of the things to come, but the reality belongs to the Messiah.
18Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind.18Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels cheat you out of the prize by rejoicing about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up for no reason by his carnal mind.
19They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.19He does not hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, which is nourished and held together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God enables it.
20Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:20If you have died with the Messiah to the basic principles of the world, why are you submitting to its decrees as though you still lived in the world?
21"Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"?21"Don't handle this! Don't taste or touch that!"
22These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.22All of these things will be destroyed as they are used, because they are based on human commands and teachings.
23Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.23These things have the appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion, humility, and harsh treatment of the body, but they have no value against self-indulgence.
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Colossians 1
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