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.

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 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,

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 who alone is able to cause them and you to understand thoroughly [DOU] [this very important message].

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

4 I am telling you this in order that no one may deceive you by persuasive arguments;

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

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

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 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.

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 It is in Christ’s body that God lives completely.

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

10 And you are spiritually complete because you have a close relationship with Christ, who rules over every other ruler.

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

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.

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 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.

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

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).

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 [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].

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

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,

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 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 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 [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

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 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.

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

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.

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

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.