1 For 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 face to face. 2 I want their hearts to be comforted and knit together in love, so that they may have all the riches of being fully assured in their understanding, and so that they may know the mystery of * our God and Father and of Christ 77.8% ¦ God, the Father of Christ TH 0.6% ¦ God, which is Christ NA SBL WH 0.3%our God and Father and of Christ, 3 in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. 4 I say this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive speech. 5 For though I am absent in body, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

6 Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to walk in him, 7 being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding † in it ¦ — NA SBL THin it with thanksgiving.

8 Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men and the elements of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For all the fullness of God's nature dwells bodily in Christ, 10 and you have been filled by him, who is the head over every ruler and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not done by hands, by putting off the body ‡ of the sins 92.3% ¦ — CT 6.9%of the sins of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ. 12 Having been buried with him in baptism, you have also been raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And § although you … made you ¦ you who … made TRalthough you were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with Christ. He forgave * us … our ¦ you … your SCRus all our trespasses 14 by blotting out the certificate of debt that stood against us with its legal demands; he took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 He stripped the rulers and authorities of their power and made a public display of them, leading a triumphal procession over them by the cross.

16 Therefore let no one judge you in regard to food † or ¦ and NA WHor drink, or in the matter of a feast, a New Moon celebration, or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance is Christ. 18 Let no one who delights in false humility and angelic religion disqualify you. Such a person takes his stand on things he has ‡ not 80.7% ¦ — NA SBL WH {1%} TH {0.8%}not seen, being puffed up without reason by the mind of his flesh, 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supported and knit together by its joints and tendons, grows with a growth that is from God.

20  § If ¦ If then ANT PCK TRIf you have died with Christ to the elements of the world, why, as though you were living in the world, do you submit to regulations such as, 21 “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch”? 22 Such regulations are based on the commandments and doctrines of men, and apply to things that will all decay with use. 23 Although these regulations have a semblance of wisdom in self-imposed piety, false humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are of no value in restraining fleshly indulgence.