| NET Bible | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. | 1For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, |
| 2My goal is that their hearts, having been knit together in love, may be encouraged, and that they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, | 2that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, |
| 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 so that no one will deceive you through arguments that sound reasonable. | 4I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument. |
| 5For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your morale and the firmness of your faith in Christ. | 5For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ. |
| 6Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, | 6Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, |
| 7rooted and built up in him and firm in your faith just as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. | 7having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. |
| 8Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you through an empty, deceitful philosophy that is according to human traditions and 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, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. |
| 9For in him all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form, | 9For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, |
| 10and you have been filled in him, who is the head over every ruler and authority. | 10and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; |
| 11In him you also were circumcised--not, however, with a circumcision performed by human hands, but by the removal of the fleshly body, that is, through the circumcision done by Christ. | 11and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; |
| 12Having been buried with him in baptism, you also have been raised with him through your faith in the power of God who raised him from the dead. | 12having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. |
| 13And even though you were dead in your transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless made you alive with him, having forgiven all your transgressions. | 13When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, |
| 14He has destroyed what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. | 14having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. |
| 15Disarming the rulers and authorities, he has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross. | 15When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. |
| 16Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days-- | 16Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day-- |
| 17these are only the shadow of the things to come, but the reality is Christ! | 17things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. |
| 18Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels pass judgment on you. That person goes on at great lengths about what he has supposedly seen, but he is puffed up with empty notions by his fleshly mind. | 18Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, |
| 19He has not held fast to the head from whom the whole body, supported and knit together through its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God. | 19and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God. |
| 20If you have died with Christ to the elemental spirits of the world, why do you submit to them as though you lived in the world? | 20If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, |
| 21"Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!" | 21"Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!" |
| 22These are all destined to perish with use, founded as they are on human commands and teachings. | 22(which all refer to things destined to perish with use)-- in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? |
| 23Even though they have the appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed worship and false humility achieved by an unsparing treatment of the body--a wisdom with no true value--they in reality result in fleshly indulgence. | 23These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence. |
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