| English Standard Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, | 1For I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me face to face, |
| 2that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, | 2that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, |
| 3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. | 3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. |
| 4I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. | 4I say this so that no one will deceive you by smooth rhetoric. |
| 5For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. | 5For although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I delight to see your orderly condition and firm faith in Christ. |
| 6Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, | 6Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in Him, |
| 7rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. | 7rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. |
| 8See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. | 8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ. |
| 9For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, | 9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form. |
| 10and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. | 10And you have been made complete in Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. |
| 11In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, | 11In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands. |
| 12having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. | 12And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead. |
| 13And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, | 13When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses, |
| 14by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. | 14having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross! |
| 15He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. | 15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. |
| 16Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. | 16Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath. |
| 17These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. | 17These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Christ. |
| 18Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, | 18Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you with speculation about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up without basis by his unspiritual mind. |
| 19and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. | 19He has lost connection to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God causes it to grow. |
| 20If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— | 20If you have died with Christ to the spiritual forces of the world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its regulations: |
| 21“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” | 21“Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”? |
| 22(referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? | 22These will all perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. |
| 23These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. | 23Such restrictions indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-prescribed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body; but they are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | The Berean Bible (Berean Study Bible (BSB) © 2016, 2018 by Bible Hub and Berean.Bible. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved. |
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