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Colossians 2:6-15
New American Standard Bible
Colossians 2:6-15
New American Standard Bible
6 Therefore, as you have received (A)Christ Jesus the Lord, so [a](B)walk in Him, 7 having been firmly (C)rooted and now being (D)built up in Him and (E)established [b]in [c]your faith, just as you (F)were instructed, and overflowing [d]with gratitude.
8 (G)See to it that there is no one who takes you captive through (H)philosophy and empty deception in accordance with human tradition, in accordance with the (I)elementary principles of the world, [e]rather than in accordance with Christ. 9 For in Him all the (J)fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been (K)made [f]complete, and (L)He is the head [g]over every (M)ruler and authority; 11 and in Him (N)you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without hands, in the removal of (O)the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been (P)buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also (Q)raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who (R)raised Him from the dead. 13 And [h]when you were (S)dead [i]in your wrongdoings and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He (T)made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our wrongdoings, 14 having canceled (U)the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and (V)He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had [j](W)disarmed the (X)rulers and authorities, He (Y)made a public display of them, having (Z)triumphed over them through [k]Him.
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- Colossians 2:6 Or lead your life
- Colossians 2:7 Or by
- Colossians 2:7 Or the faith
- Colossians 2:7 One early ms in it with
- Colossians 2:8 Lit and not
- Colossians 2:10 Lit full
- Colossians 2:10 Lit of
- Colossians 2:13 Or although
- Colossians 2:13 Or by reason of
- Colossians 2:15 Or divested Himself of
- Colossians 2:15 Or it; i.e., the cross
Colossians 2:6-15
New International Version
Colossians 2:6-15
New International Version
Spiritual Fullness in Christ
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,(A) continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted(B) and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught,(C) and overflowing with thankfulness.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,(D) which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces[a] of this world(E) rather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullness(F) of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head(G) over every power and authority.(H) 11 In him you were also circumcised(I) with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh[b](J) was put off when you were circumcised by[c] Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism,(K) in which you were also raised with him(L) through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.(M)
13 When you were dead in your sins(N) and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you[d] alive(O) with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,(P) 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness,(Q) which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.(R) 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities,(S) he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them(T) by the cross.[e]
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
Colossians 2:6-15
Contemporary English Version
Colossians 2:6-15
Contemporary English Version
Christ Brings Real Life
6 You have accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord. Now keep on following him. 7 Plant your roots in Christ and let him be the foundation for your life. Be strong in your faith, just as you were taught. And be grateful.
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.
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Colossians 2:6-15
The Message
Colossians 2:6-15
The Message
From the Shadows to the Substance
6-7 My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.
8-10 Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that’s not the way of Christ. Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You don’t need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything.
11-15 Entering into this fullness is not something you figure out or achieve. It’s not a matter of being circumcised or keeping a long list of laws. No, you’re already in—insiders—not through some secretive initiation rite but rather through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin. If it’s an initiation ritual you’re after, you’ve already been through it by submitting to baptism. Going under the water was a burial of your old life; coming up out of it was a resurrection, God raising you from the dead as he did Christ. When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.
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New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
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New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
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The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson