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Colossians 2:8-23
Contemporary English Version
Colossians 2:8-23
Contemporary English Version
8 Don't let anyone fool you by using senseless arguments. These arguments may sound wise, but they are only human teachings. They come from the powers of this world[a] and not from Christ.
9 God lives fully in Christ. 10 And you are fully grown because you belong to Christ, who is over every power and authority. 11 Christ has also taken away your selfish desires, just as circumcision removes flesh from the body. 12 (A) And when you were baptized, it was the same as being buried with Christ. Then you were raised to life because you had faith in the power of God, who raised Christ from death. 13 (B) You were dead, because you were sinful and were not God's people. But God let Christ make you[b] alive, when he forgave all our sins.
14 (C) God wiped out the charges that were against us for disobeying the Law of Moses. He took them away and nailed them to the cross. 15 There Christ defeated all powers and forces. He let the whole world see them being led away as prisoners when he celebrated his victory.
16 (D) Don't let anyone tell you what you must eat or drink. Don't let them say you must celebrate the New Moon festival, the Sabbath, or any other festival. 17 These things are only a shadow of what was to come. But Christ is real!
18 Don't be cheated by people who make a show of acting humble and who worship angels.[c] They brag about seeing visions. But it is all nonsense, because their minds are filled with selfish desires. 19 (E) They are no longer part of Christ, who is the head of the whole body. Christ gives the body its strength, and he uses its joints and muscles to hold it together, as it grows by the power of God.
Christ Brings New Life
20 You died with Christ. Now the forces of the universe[d] don't have any power over you. Why do you live as if you had to obey such rules as, 21 “Don't handle this. Don't taste that. Don't touch this.”? 22 After these things are used, they are no longer good for anything. So why be bothered with the rules that humans have made up? 23 Obeying these rules may seem to be the smart thing to do. They appear to make you love God more and to be very humble and to have control over your body. But they don't really have any power over our desires.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2.8 powers of this world: Spirits and unseen forces were thought to control human lives and were believed to be connected with the movements of the stars.
- 2.13 you: See the note at 1.7.
- 2.18 worship angels: Or “worship with angels (in visions of heaven).”
- 2.20 forces of the universe: See the note at 2.8.
Colossians 2:8-23
New International Version
Colossians 2:8-23
New International Version
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,(A) which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces[a] of this world(B) rather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullness(C) of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head(D) over every power and authority.(E) 11 In him you were also circumcised(F) with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh[b](G) was put off when you were circumcised by[c] Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism,(H) in which you were also raised with him(I) through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.(J)
13 When you were dead in your sins(K) and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you[d] alive(L) with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,(M) 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness,(N) which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.(O) 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities,(P) he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them(Q) by the cross.[e]
Freedom From Human Rules
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you(R) by what you eat or drink,(S) or with regard to a religious festival,(T) a New Moon celebration(U) or a Sabbath day.(V) 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come;(W) the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility(X) and the worship of angels disqualify you.(Y) Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. 19 They have lost connection with the head,(Z) from whom the whole body,(AA) supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.(AB)
20 Since you died with Christ(AC) to the elemental spiritual forces of this world,(AD) why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:(AE) 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish(AF) with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.(AG) 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility(AH) and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
Footnotes
- Colossians 2:8 Or the basic principles; also in verse 20
- Colossians 2:11 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit; also in verse 13.
- Colossians 2:11 Or put off in the circumcision of
- Colossians 2:13 Some manuscripts us
- Colossians 2:15 Or them in him
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