Therefore, as you have received(A) Christ Jesus the Lord,(B) walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him(C) and established in the faith, just as you were taught,(D) overflowing with gratitude.

Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition,(E) based on the elemental forces of the world, and not based on Christ.(F) For the entire fullness(G) of God’s nature[a] dwells bodily[b] in Christ, 10 and you have been filled by Him, who is the head(H) over every ruler and authority. 11 You were also circumcised in Him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh,(I) in the circumcision of the Messiah.[c](J) 12 Having been buried with Him(K) in baptism, you were also raised with Him(L) through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.(M) 13 And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him and forgave us all our trespasses. 14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross.(N) 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; He triumphed over them by Him.[d](O)

16 Therefore, don’t let anyone judge(P) you in regard to food and drink(Q) or in the matter of a festival or a new moon(R) or a Sabbath day.[e] 17 These are a shadow(S) of what was to come;(T) the substance is[f] the Messiah.(U)

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Footnotes

  1. Colossians 2:9 Or of the deity
  2. Colossians 2:9 Or nature lives in a human body
  3. Colossians 2:11 = His death
  4. Colossians 2:15 Or them through it; = through the cross
  5. Colossians 2:16 Or or sabbaths
  6. Colossians 2:17 Or substance belongs to

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