| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, | 1For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me in person. |
| 2that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, | 2I want their hearts to be encouraged and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God's mystery--Christ. |
| 3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. | 3All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Him. |
| 4Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. | 4I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive arguments. |
| 5For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. | 5For I may be absent in body, but I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ. |
| 6As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, | 6Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, |
| 7rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. | 7rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, overflowing with gratitude. |
| 8Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. | 8Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elemental forces of the world, and not based on Christ. |
| 9For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; | 9For the entire fullness of God's nature dwells bodily in Christ, |
| 10and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. | 10and you have been filled by Him, who is the head over every ruler and authority. |
| 11In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, | 11You were also circumcised in Him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of the Messiah. |
| 12buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. | 12Having been buried with Him in baptism, you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. |
| 13And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, | 13And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him and forgave us all our trespasses. |
| 14having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. | 14He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross. |
| 15Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. | 15He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; He triumphed over them by Him. |
| 16So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, | 16Therefore, don't let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. |
| 17which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. | 17These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is the Messiah. |
| 18Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, | 18Let no one disqualify you, insisting on ascetic practices and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm and inflated without cause by his unspiritual mind. |
| 19and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. | 19He doesn't hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, develops with growth from God. |
| 20Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— | 20If you died with the Messiah to the elemental forces of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: " |
| 21“Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” | 21Don't handle, don't taste, don't touch"? |
| 22which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? | 22All these regulations refer to what is destroyed by being used up; they are commands and doctrines of men. |
| 23These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. | 23Although these have a reputation of wisdom by promoting ascetic practices, humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence. |
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