For I want you to know how great a ^astruggle I have for you and for those believers at ^1bLaodicea, and for all who like yourselves have never seen me face to face. 2 For my hope is that their ^ahearts may be encouraged as they are ^bknit together in unselfish ¹love, so that they may have all ^cthe riches that come from the full assurance of understanding the joy of salvation, resulting in a ^dtrue and more intimate knowledge of the ^2emystery of God, that is, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all ^athe treasures of wisdom and knowledge regarding the word and purposes of God. 4 ^aI say this so that no one will deceive you with ^bpersuasive but thoroughly deceptive arguments. 5 For even though I am ^aabsent from you in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, ¹delighted to see your ^bgood discipline as you stand shoulder to shoulder and form a solid front and to see the ^cstability of your faith in Christ your steadfast reliance on Him and your unwavering confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness.

6 Therefore as you have received ^aChrist Jesus the Lord, ^bwalk in union with Him reflecting His character in the things you do and say—living lives that lead others away from sin, 7 having been deeply ^arooted in Him and now being continually ^bbuilt up in Him and becoming increasingly more ^cestablished ¹in your faith, just as you ^dwere taught, and overflowing in it with gratitude.

8 ^aSee to it that no one takes you captive through ^bphilosophy and empty deception pseudo-intellectual babble, according to the tradition and musings of mere men, following the ^1celementary principles of this world, rather than following the truth—the teachings of Christ. 9 For in Him all the ^afullness of Deity (the Godhead) dwells in bodily form completely expressing the divine essence of God. 10 And in Him you have been ^amade complete achieving spiritual stature through Christ, and ^bHe is the head over all ^crule and authority of every angelic and earthly power. 11 In Him ^ayou were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, but by the spiritual circumcision of Christ in the stripping off of ^bthe body of the flesh the sinful carnal nature, 12 having been ^aburied with Him in baptism and ^braised with Him to a new life through your faith in the working of God, as displayed when He ^craised Christ from the dead. 13 When you were ^adead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh (worldliness, manner of life) , God ^bmade you alive together with Christ, having freely forgiven us all our sins, 14 having canceled out the ^1acertificate of debt consisting of ²legal demands which were in force against us and which were hostile to us. And ^bthis certificate He has set aside and completely removed by nailing it to the cross. 15 When He had ^adisarmed the ^brulers and authorities those supernatural forces of evil operating against us, He ^cmade a public example of them exhibiting them as captives in His triumphal procession, having ^dtriumphed over them through ¹the cross.

16 Therefore let no one ^ajudge you in regard to ^bfood and ^cdrink or in regard to the observance of a ^dfestival or a ^enew moon or a ^fSabbath day. 17 Such things are only ^aa shadow of what is to come and they have only symbolic value; but the substance the reality of what is foreshadowed belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one ^adefraud you of your prize your freedom in Christ and your salvation by ^binsisting on mock humility and the worship of angels, going into detail about visions he claims he has seen to justify his authority, ^cpuffed up in conceit by his ^dunspiritual mind, 19 and not holding fast to ^athe head of the body, Jesus Christ, from whom ^bthe entire body, supplied and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows with the growth that can come only from God.

20 ^aIf you have died with Christ to the ^1belementary principles of the world, ^cwhy, as if you were still living in the world, do you submit to ^drules and regulations, such as, 21 “Do not handle this, do not taste that, do not even touch!”? 22 (^athese things all perish with use)—in accordance with the ^bcommandments and teachings of men. Is 29:13 23 These practices indeed have the appearance that popularly passes as that of wisdom in ^aself-made religion and mock humility and ^bsevere treatment of the body (asceticism) , but are of no value against sinful ^cindulgence because they do not honor God.