Colossians, 2

1. For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and [for] them at Laodicea, and [for] as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;

1. I want you to know how I strive for you, for those of Laodicea and for so many who have not met me personally.

2. That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;

2. I pray that all may be encouraged. May you be established in love, that you may obtain all the riches of a full understanding and know the mystery of God, Christ himself.

3. In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

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

4. And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.

4. So let no one deceive you with persuasive arguments.

5. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.

5. Although I am far from you, my spirit is with you and I rejoice in recalling how well-disciplined you are and how firm in the faith of Christ.

6. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, [so] walk ye in him:

6. If you have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, let him be your doctrine.

7. Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

7. Be rooted and built up in him; let faith be your principle, as you were taught, and your thanksgiving overflowing.

8. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

8. See that no one deceives you with philosophy or any hollow discourse; these are merely human doctrines not inspired by Christ but by the wisdom of this world.

9. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

9. For in Him dwells the fullness of God in bodily form.

10. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

10. He is the head of all cosmic power and authority, and in him you have everything.

11. In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

11. In Christ Jesus you were given a circumcision but not by human hands, which removed completely from you the carnal body:

12. Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with [him] through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

12. I refer to baptism. On receiving it you were buried with Christ; and you also rose with him for having believed in the power of God who raised him from the dead.

13. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

13. You were dead. You were in sin and uncircumcised at the same time. But God gave you life with Christ. He forgave all our sins.

14. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

14. He canceled the record of our debts, those regulations which accused us. He did away with all that and nailed it to the cross.

15. [And] having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

15. Victorious through the cross, he stripped the rulers and authorities of their power, humbled them before the eyes of the whole world and dragged them behind him as prisoners.

16. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath [days]:

16. So, then, let no one criticize you in matters of food or drink or for not observing festivals, new moons or the sabbath.

17. Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Christ.

17. These things were only shadows of what was to come, whereas the reality is the person of Christ.

18. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

18. Do not let yourselves be robbed of him by those people who offer you a religion of fear and the worship of the angels. In fact, they only appreciate their own visions and are puffed up with their idle notions,

19. And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.

19. instead of holding firmly to the head, Christ. It is he who nourishes and gives unity to the whole body by a complex system of nerves and ligaments, making it grow according to the plan of God.

20. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,

20. If you have really died with Christ, and are rid of the principles of the world, why do you now let yourselves be taught as if you belonged to the world?

21. (Touch not; taste not; handle not;

21. "Do not eat this, do not taste that, do not touch that..."

22. Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?

22. These are human rules and teachings, referring to things that are perishable, that wear out and disappear.

23. Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.

23. These doctrines may seem to be profound because they speak of religious observance and humility and of disregarding the body. In fact, they are useless as soon as the flesh rebels.