Colossians 2
1 For I desire to have you know how greatly I struggle for you, and for those at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;
I want you to know in how great a struggle I am engaged for you and for Christ’s People at Laodicea, and for all who have not yet seen me;
2 that their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love, and gaining all riches of the full assurance of understanding, that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Messiah,
in the hope that they, being bound to one another by love, and keeping in view the full blessedness of a firm conviction, may be encouraged to strive for a perfect knowledge of God’s hidden Truth,
3 in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden.
even Christ himself, in whom all treasures of wisdom and knowledge lie hidden.
4 Now I say this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive words.
I say this to prevent any one from deceiving you by plausible arguments.
5 For though I am absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Messiah.
It is true that I am not with you in person, but I am with you in spirit, and am glad to see the good order and the unbroken front resulting from your faith in Christ.
6 As therefore you received Messiah Jesus, the Lord, walk in him,
Since, therefore, you have received Jesus, the Christ, as your Lord, live your lives in union with him —
7 rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, even as you were taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
rooted in him, building up your characters through union with him, growing stronger through your faith, as you were taught, overflowing with faith and thanksgiving.
8 Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you through an empty and deceptive philosophy, according to human tradition, according to the elementary principles of the world, and not according to Messiah.
Take care there is not some one who will carry you away by his ‘philosophy’ — a hollow sham! — following, as it does, mere human traditions, and dealing with puerile questions of this world, and not with Christ.
9 For in him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
For in Christ the Godhead in all its fulness dwells incarnate;
10 and in him you are made full, who is the head of all principality and power;
and, by your union with him, you also are filled with it. He is the Head of all Archangels and Powers of Heaven.
11 in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Messiah;
By your union with him you received a circumcision that was not performed by human hands, when you threw off the tyranny of the earthly body, and received the circumcision of the Christ.
12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
For in baptism you were buried with Christ; and in baptism you were also raised to Life with him, through your faith in the omnipotence of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
And to you, who once were ‘dead,’ by reason of your sins and your uncircumcised nature — to you God gave Life in giving life to Christ! He pardoned all our sins!
14 wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us; and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross;
He canceled the bond which stood against us — the bond that consisted of ordinances — and which was directly hostile to us! He has taken it out of our way by nailing it to the cross!
15 having disarmed the rulers and authorities, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
He rid himself of all the Powers of Evil, and held them up to open contempt, when he celebrated his triumph over them on the cross!
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you about food and drink, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day,
Do not, then, allow any one to take you to task on questions of eating or drinking, or in the matter of annual or monthly or weekly festivals.
17 which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Messiah's.
These things are only the shadow of what is to come; the substance is in the Christ.
18 Let no one rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility and worshipping of the angels, dwelling in the things which he has seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
Do not let any one defraud you of the reality by affecting delight in so-called ‘humility’ and angel-worship. Such a man busies himself with his visions, and without reason is rendered conceited by his merely human intellect.
19 and not holding firmly to the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with God's growth.
He fails to maintain union with the Head, to whom it is due that the whole body, nourished and knit together by the contact and connexion of every part, grows with a divine growth.
20 If you died with Messiah from the elementary principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to ordinances,
Since, with Christ, you became dead to the puerile teaching of this world, why do you submit, as though your life were still that of the world,
21 "Do not handle, nor taste, nor touch"
to such ordinances as ‘Do not handle, or taste, or touch’?
22 (all of which perish with use), according to human commandments and teachings?
For all the things referred to in them cease to exist when used. You are following mere human directions and instructions.
23 Which things indeed appear like wisdom in self-imposed worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.
Such prohibitions appear reasonable where there is a desire for self-imposed service, and so-called ‘humility,’ and harsh treatment of the body, but are of no real value against the indulgence of our earthly nature.
