| New International Version | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 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 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 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, | 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 tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. | 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 and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is. | 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. |
| 6So then, 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, strengthened in the faith 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. |
| 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 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 Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, | 9For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, |
| 10and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. | 10and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule 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, | 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, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working 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. |
| 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, | 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, |
| 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 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. |
| 15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle 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 by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. | 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 a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. | 17things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. |
| 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 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, |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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 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 rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. | 22(which all refer to things destined to perish with use)-- in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? |
| 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 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. |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
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