Colossians 2
Tree of Life Version
2 I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those in Laodicea, as well as for those who have still not seen me face to face. 2 My purpose is that their hearts, joined together in love, may be encouraged. May they have all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, leading to a true knowledge of the mystery of God—that is, Messiah. 3 In Him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. [a] 4 I am telling you this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive-sounding arguments. 5 For even though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit—rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your trust in Messiah.
Living Out the Mystery
6 Therefore as you received Messiah Yeshua as Lord, so continue to walk in Him— 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in your faith just as you were taught, overflowing with thankfulness. 8 See that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men and the basic principles of the world rather than Messiah. 9 For all the fullness of Deity lives bodily in Him, 10 and in Him you have been filled to fullness. He is the head over every ruler and authority.
11 In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision done not by hand, in the stripping away of the body of the flesh through the circumcision of Messiah. 12 You were buried along with Him in immersion, through which you also were raised with Him by trusting in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with Him when He pardoned us all our transgressions. 14 He wiped out the handwritten record of debts with the decrees against us, which was hostile to us. He took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 After disarming the principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in the cross.[b]
The Danger of False Wisdom
16 Therefore, do not let anyone pass judgment on you in matters of food or drink, or in respect to a festival or new moon or Shabbat. [c] 17 These are a foreshadowing of things to come, but the reality is Messiah. [d] 18 Let no one disqualify you by insisting on false humility and worship of angels—going into detail about what he has seen, puffed up without cause by his fleshly mind. 19 He is not holding fast to the Head. It is from Him that the whole body, nourished and held together by its joints and tendons, grows with a godly increase. 20 If you died with Messiah to the basic principles of the world, why—as though living in the world—do you subject yourselves to their rules? 21 “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!” 22 These all lead to decay with use, based as they are on man-made commands and teachings. [e] 23 Indeed, these are matters that have an appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and humility and self-denial of the body—yet none are of any value for stopping indulgence of the flesh.
Footnotes
- Colossians 2:4 cf. Prov. 3:19; Isa. 11:2; 45:3.
- Colossians 2:15 Lit. in it or in Him.
- Colossians 2:17 cf. Lev 23:2-4, 2 Chr. 23:31; 2 Chr. 31:3; Neh. 10:33; Ps. 81:3; Isa. 66:23; Ezek. 46:1, etc.
- Colossians 2:18 Lit. the body is of Messiah.
- Colossians 2:23 cf. Isa. 29:13.
Colosenses 2
Reina-Valera Antigua
2 PORQUE quiero que sepáis cuán gran solicitud tengo por vosotros, y por los que están en Laodicea, y por todos los que nunca vieron mi rostro en carne;
2 Para que sean confortados sus corazones, unidos en amor, y en todas riquezas de cumplido entendimiento para conocer el misterio de Dios, y del Padre, y de Cristo;
3 En el cual están escondidos todos los tesoros de sabiduría y conocimiento.
4 Y esto digo, para que nadie os engañe con palabras persuasivas.
5 Porque aunque estoy ausente con el cuerpo, no obstante con el espíritu estoy con vosotros, gozándome y mirando vuestro concierto, y la firmeza de vuestra fe en Cristo.
6 Por tanto, de la manera que habéis recibido al Señor Jesucristo, andad en él:
7 Arraigados y sobreedificados en él, y confirmados en la fe, así como habéis aprendido, creciendo en ella con hacimiento de gracias.
8 Mirad que ninguno os engañe por filosofías y vanas sustilezas, según las tradiciones de los hombres, conforme á los elementos del mundo, y no según Cristo:
9 Porque en él habita toda la plenitud de la divinidad corporalmente:
10 Y en él estáis cumplidos, el cual es la cabeza de todo principado y potestad:
11 En el cual también sois circuncidados de circuncisión no hecha con manos, con el despojamiento del cuerpo de los pecados de la carne, en la circuncisión de Cristo;
12 Sepultados juntamente con él en la bautismo, en el cual también resucitasteis con él, por la fe de la operación de Dios que le levantó de los muertos.
13 Y á vosotros, estando muertos en pecados y en la incircuncisión de vuestra carne, os vivificó juntamente con él, perdonándoos todos los pecados,
14 Rayendo la cédula de los ritos que nos era contraria, que era contra nosotros, quitándola de en medio y enclavándola en la cruz;
15 Y despojando los principados y las potestades, sacólos á la vergüenza en público, triunfando de ellos en sí mismo.
16 Por tanto, nadie os juzgue en comida, ó en bebida, ó en parte de día de fiesta, ó de nueva luna, ó de sábados:
17 Lo cual es la sombra de lo por venir; mas el cuerpo es de Cristo.
18 Nadie os prive de vuestro premio, afectando humildad y culto á los ángeles, metiéndose en lo que no ha visto, vanamente hinchado en el sentido de su propia carne,
19 Y no teniendo la cabeza, de la cual todo el cuerpo, alimentado y conjunto por las ligaduras y conjunturas, crece en aumento de Dios.
20 Pues si sois muertos con Cristo cuanto á los rudimentos del mundo, ¿por qué como si vivieseis al mundo, os sometéis á ordenanzas,
21 Tales como, No manejes, ni gustes, ni aun toques,
22 (Las cuales cosas son todas para destrucción en el uso mismo), en conformidad á mandamientos y doctrinas de hombres?
23 Tales cosas tienen á la verdad cierta reputación de sabiduría en culto voluntario, y humildad, y en duro trato del cuerpo; no en alguna honra para el saciar de la carne.
Colossians 2
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 2
Closely United in Love.[a] 1 I want you to realize how greatly I am struggling for you as well as for those in Laodicea[b] and all the others who have never seen me face to face. 2 I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love so that they may grow rich in their complete understanding as they come to the knowledge of the mystery of God, that is, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 I am telling you all this so that no one may deceive you with deceptive arguments. 5 Even if I am not physically present to you, I am with you in spirit, and I rejoice to see your unity and the resolute firmness of your faith in Christ.
Instruction about Errors That Are Circulating
Walk in Christ.[c] 6 Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to walk in him. 7 Be rooted and built up in him, and remain established in the faith as you were taught, overflowing with thanksgiving. 8 Make sure that no one leads you astray with an empty and deceitful philosophy that depends on human tradition[d] and worldly principles, and not on Christ.
God Has Given You Life in Christ. 9 For it is in him that the entire fullness of deity dwells in bodily form,[e] 10 and you share this fullness in him who is the head of every ruler and power. 11 In him also you were circumcised, not with a physical circumcision but with a spiritual stripping away of the old nature with the circumcision of Christ.
12 When you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God who raised him from the dead. 13 And even when you were dead in your sins and your flesh was uncircumcised, God gave you new life along with him. He has forgiven us all our sins, 14 erasing the record against us[f] with its decrees that are hostile to us. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 Disarming the rulers and powers, he made a public spectacle of them, parading them in his triumphal procession.
16 The Reality Is Christ.[g] Therefore, do not allow anyone to pass judgment on you in regard to what you eat or drink, or about the observance of Festivals, New Moons, or Sabbaths.[h] 17 These are only a shadow of what is to come. The reality is Christ.
18 Do not allow yourself to be declared disqualified by those who revel in false humility and worship angels and visions, their vanity foolishly inflated by a human way of thinking. 19 They are not united with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, achieves the growth that comes from God.
20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental principles of this world, why are you living in the world as if you were subject to it? 21 “Do not handle!” “Do not taste!” “Do not touch!” 22 All this refers to things that perish as they are used. They are simply human commands and teachings. 23 Rules of this type indeed appear to be wise in promoting self-imposed piety, false humility, and harsh treatment of the body, but they are of no value in combating the flesh.
Footnotes
- Colossians 2:1 The Apostle draws his strength from faith, and believers draw their unity from that same faith: i.e., knowledge of the mystery of God, whose riches love will never cease uncovering. It is not a case of speculating about abstract ideas or empty words, but of recognizing the action of God in history and in the hearts of human beings—today as yesterday—so as to save them.
- Colossians 2:1 Laodicea: a town about 11 miles away from Colossae; the Letter was to be read there, too (Col 4:16).
- Colossians 2:6 Paul states that human laws, even the Law of Moses, could forbid sin but not overcome it; they drive human beings to sin and are like a sentence of death. We could imagine all sorts of hidden forces that might rule the world, but they can only add to the alienation of humans. Christ has liberated believers from this tyranny of observances and myths. In his Resurrection, he is the sole master through whom human beings are raised, and all the imaginable forces are subjected to him. For Christians, the conception of the world and life has changed; having been baptized, they share in the very life of God. This is a much more profound turnaround than the ancient circumcision. Why then do the Colossians insist on seeking salvation in material observances, human theories, and myths?
- Colossians 2:8 Human tradition: literally, “philosophy,” a word that occurs only here in the New Testament. In this context, it refers not to systematic thought but to religious speculations.
- Colossians 2:9 The entire fullness of deity dwells in bodily form: i.e., in the risen and glorified body of Christ.
- Colossians 2:14 Record against us: the reference is perhaps to the Mosaic Law. The latter pointed out the way of the commandments but did not give the power to observe; as a result, it became the source of indictment.
- Colossians 2:16 Certain Colossian Christians of Jewish extraction minutely observed the customs of the Jewish religion, others were partial to visions and revelations, and still others gave themselves over to ascetical practices. All of them acted as if their method was necessary for salvation. But wasn’t it Christ who saved them and who enabled his Church to live as a new seed in the world? To believe is to be set free and to dedicate oneself entirely to the Lord. What can human rites, exercises, usages, and theories do in this respect?
- Colossians 2:16 Observance of Festivals, New Moons, or Sabbaths: observances that were in vogue on a yearly, monthly, or weekly basis. These were usually reckoned according to heavenly bodies, sun, moon, and stars (see Col 2:8).
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.
