Colossians 2

Modern

Literal

Absent in Body, Present in Spirit

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,

¹For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and those in Laodicea and as many as have not seen my face in the flesh,

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,^a

²that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and to all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God: Christ,

³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

³in whom are hidden away all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge.

⁴I say this so that no one will deceive you by smooth rhetoric.

⁴I say this so that no one may delude you by persuasive speech.

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.

⁵For even if I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Alive with Christ

⁶Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in Him,

⁶Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him,

⁷rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

⁷having been rooted and being built up in Him, and being confirmed in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

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.

⁸See, lest there will be anyone taking you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world and not according to Christ,

⁹For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.

⁹because in Him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily.

¹⁰And you have been made complete in Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

¹⁰And you are made complete in Him, who is the head of all rule and authority,

¹¹In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ^a and not by human hands.

¹¹in whom also you were circumcised with the circumcision done without hands in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ,

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.

¹²having been buried with Him in baptism, in which also you were raised with Him through the faith from the working of God, the One having raised Him out from the dead.

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,

¹³And you being dead in the trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all the trespasses,

¹⁴having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross!

¹⁴having blotted out the handwriting in the decrees against us, which was adverse to us. And He has taken it out of the midst, 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.

¹⁵Having divested the rulers and the authorities, He made a show of them in public, having triumphed over them in it.

¹⁶Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath.

¹⁶Therefore let no one judge you in food or in drink or in the part of a feast or of a New Moon or of Sabbaths,

¹⁷These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Christ.^a

¹⁷which are a shadow the things about to be; but the body is of the Christ.

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.

¹⁸Let no one disqualify you, delighting in humility and worship of the angels, going into what he has seen, vainly being puffed up by the mind of his flesh,

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.

¹⁹and not holding fast to the head, from whom all the body, being supplied and being knit together by the joints and ligaments, grows with the growth of God.

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:

²⁰If you died with Christ, away from the elements of the world, why, as if living in the world, are you subject to decrees:

²¹“Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch! ”?

²¹“You should not handle! You should not taste! You should not touch!”—

²²These will all perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.

²²which are all unto decay with the use, according to the precepts and teachings of men,

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.

²³which, having indeed a word of wisdom in self-willed worship and humility and harsh treatment of the body, are not in any value toward the indulgence of the flesh.