Colossians 2
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 2
1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I am having for you and for those in Laodicea[a] and all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged as they are brought together in love, to have all the richness of fully assured understanding, for the knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ,(A) 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.(B)
III. Warnings Against False Teachers[b]
A General Admonition. 4 I say this so that no one may deceive you by specious arguments.(C) 5 For even if I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing as I observe your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.(D) 6 So, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, 7 rooted in him and built upon him and established in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.(E) 8 See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy according to human tradition, according to the elemental powers of the world[c] and not according to Christ.(F)
Sovereign Role of Christ. 9 (G)For in him dwells the whole fullness of the deity[d] bodily, 10 and you share in this fullness in him, who is the head of every principality and power. 11 (H)In him[e] you were also circumcised with a circumcision not administered by hand, by stripping off the carnal body, with the circumcision of Christ. 12 You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.(I) 13 (J)And even when you were dead [in] transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he brought you to life along with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions; 14 [f]obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims, which was opposed to us, he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross;(K) 15 despoiling the principalities and the powers, he made a public spectacle of them,(L) leading them away in triumph by it.[g]
Practices Contrary to Faith. 16 (M)Let no one, then, pass judgment on you in matters of food and drink or with regard to a festival or new moon or sabbath.[h] 17 These are shadows of things to come; the reality belongs to Christ.(N) 18 Let no one disqualify you, delighting in self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions,[i] inflated without reason by his fleshly mind,(O) 19 and not holding closely to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and bonds, achieves the growth that comes from God.(P)
20 If you died with Christ to the elemental powers of the world, why do you submit to regulations as if you were still living in the world? 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” 22 These are all things destined to perish with use; they accord with human precepts and teachings.(Q) 23 While they have a semblance of wisdom in rigor of devotion and self-abasement [and] severity to the body, they are of no value against gratification of the flesh.
Footnotes
- 2:1 Laodicea: chief city in Phrygia, northwest of Colossae; cf. Col 4:13, 16; Rev 3:14–22.
- 2:4–23 In face of the threat posed by false teachers (Col 2:4), the Colossians are admonished to adhere to the gospel as it was first preached to them (Col 2:6), steeping themselves in it with grateful hearts (Col 2:7). They must reject religious teachings originating in any source except the gospel (Col 2:8) because in Christ alone will they have access to God, the deity (Col 2:9). So fully has Christ enlightened them that they need no other source of religious knowledge or virtue (Col 2:10). They do not require circumcision (Col 2:11), for in baptism their whole being has been affected by Christ (Col 2:12) through forgiveness of sin and resurrection to a new life (Col 2:13; cf. Col 3:1 and Rom 6:1–11). On the cross Christ canceled the record of the debt that stood against us with all its claims (Col 2:14), i.e., he eliminated the law (cf. Eph 2:15) that human beings could not observe—and that could not save them. He forgave sins against the law (Col 2:14) and exposed as false and misleading (Col 2:15) all other powers (cf. Col 1:16) that purport to offer salvation. Therefore, the Colossians are not to accept judgments from such teachers on food and drink or to keep certain religious festivals or engage in certain cultic practices (Col 2:16), for the Colossians would thereby risk severing themselves from Christ (Col 2:19). If, when they accepted the gospel, they believed in Christ as their savior, they must be convinced that their salvation cannot be achieved by appeasing ruling spirits through dietary practices or through a wisdom gained simply by means of harsh asceticism (Col 2:20–23).
- 2:8 Elemental powers of the world: see note on Gal 4:3.
- 2:9 Fullness of the deity: the divine nature, not just attributes; see note on Col 1:19.
- 2:11 A description of baptism (Col 2:12) in symbolic terms of the Old Testament rite for entry into the community. The false teachers may have demanded physical circumcision of the Colossians.
- 2:14 The elaborate metaphor here about how God canceled the legal claims against us through Christ’s cross depicts not Christ being nailed to the cross by men but the bond…with its legal claims being nailed to the cross by God.
- 2:15 The picture derives from the public spectacle and triumph of a Roman emperor’s victory parade, where captives marched in subjection. The principalities and the powers are here conquered, not reconciled (cf. Col 1:16, 20). An alternate rendering for by it (the cross) is “by him” (Christ).
- 2:16 Festival or new moon or sabbath: yearly, monthly, and weekly observances determined by religious powers associated with a calendar set by the heavenly bodies, sun, moon, and stars (cf. Col 2:8).
- 2:18 Ascetic practices encouraged by the false teachers included subjection of self humbly to their rules, worship of angels, and cultivation of visions, though exact details are unclear.
Colossians 2
International Children’s Bible
2 I want you to know that I am trying very hard to help you. And I am trying to help those in Laodicea and others who have never seen me. 2 I want them to be strengthened and joined together with love. I want them to be rich in the strong belief that comes from understanding. I mean I want you to know fully God’s secret truth. That truth is Christ himself. 3 And in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are safely kept.
4 I say this so that no one can fool you by arguments that seem good, but are false. 5 I am not there with you, but my heart is with you. I am happy to see your good lives and your strong faith in Christ.
Continue to Live in Christ
6 As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so continue to live in him. 7 Keep your roots deep in him and have your lives built on him. Be strong in the faith, just as you were taught. And always be thankful.
8 Be sure that no one leads you away with false ideas and words that mean nothing. Those ideas come from men. They are the worthless ideas of this world. They are not from Christ. 9 All of God lives fully in Christ (even when Christ was on earth). 10 And in him you have a full and true life. He is ruler over all rulers and powers.
11 In Christ you had a different kind of circumcision. That circumcision was not done by hands. I mean, you were made free from the power of your sinful self. That is the kind of circumcision Christ does. 12 When you were baptized, you were buried with Christ and you were raised up with Christ because of your faith in God’s power. That power was shown when he raised Christ from death. 13 You were spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were not free from the power of your sinful self. But God made you alive with Christ. And God forgave all our sins. 14 We owed a debt because we broke God’s laws. That debt listed all the rules we failed to follow. But God forgave us that debt. He took away that debt and nailed it to the cross. 15 God defeated the spiritual rulers and powers. With the cross God won the victory and defeated them. He showed the world that they were powerless.
Don’t Follow People’s Rules
16 So do not let anyone make rules for you about eating and drinking or about a religious feast, a New Moon Festival, or a Sabbath day. 17 In the past, these things were like a shadow of what was to come. But the new things that were coming are found in Christ. 18 Some enjoy acting as if they were humble and love to worship angels. They are always talking about the visions they have seen. Do not let them tell you that you are wrong. They are full of foolish pride because of their human way of thinking. 19 They do not keep themselves under the control of Christ, the head. The whole body depends on Christ. Because of him all the parts of the body care for each other and help each other. This strengthens the body and holds it together. And so the body grows in the way God wants.
20 You died with Christ and were made free from the worthless rules of the world. So why do you act as if you still belong to this world? I mean, why do you follow rules like these: 21 “Don’t handle this,” “Don’t taste that,” “Don’t touch that thing”? 22 These rules are talking about earthly things that are gone as soon as they are used. They are only human commands and teachings. 23 These rules seem to be wise. But they are only part of a human religion. They make people pretend not to be proud and make them punish their bodies. But they do not really control the evil desires of the sinful self.
Colossians 2
Lexham English Bible
Christ, the Mystery of God
2 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on behalf of you, and those in Laodicea, and all those who have not seen my face in person[a], 2 so that their hearts may be encouraged, united in love and into all the wealth of the full assurance of insight into the knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ, 3 in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. 4 I say this in order that no one will deceive you with persuasive speech, 5 for even if I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing and seeing your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.
Made Alive in Christ
6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, live in him, 7 firmly rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding with thankfulness. 8 Beware lest anyone take you captive[b] through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition[c], according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ, 9 because in him all the fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you are filled in him, who is the head over every ruler and authority, 11 in whom also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made by hands, by the removal of the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which also you were raised together with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And although you were dead[d][e] in the trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 having destroyed the certificate of indebtedness in ordinances against us, which was hostile to us, and removed it out of the way by[f] nailing it to the cross. 15 When he[g] had disarmed the rulers and the authorities, he made a display of them in public, triumphing over them by it.[h]
Do Not Be Judged by Human Religious Rules
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you with reference to eating or[i] drinking or participation in a feast or a new moon or a Sabbath, 17 which are a shadow of what is to come, but the reality is Christ. 18 Let no one condemn you, taking pleasure in humility and the worship of angels, going into detail about the things which he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by the ligaments and sinews, grows with the growth of God.
20 If you have died with Christ to the elemental spirits of the world, why do you submit to them as if living in the world? 21 “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch,” 22 which things are all meant for destruction by consuming according to human commandments and teachings, 23 which things although they have[j],[k] to be sure, an appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and humility and unsparing treatment of the body, do not have any value[l] against the indulgence of the flesh.
Footnotes
- Colossians 2:1 Literally “in the flesh”
- Colossians 2:8 Literally “anyone be the one who takes captive you”
- Colossians 2:8 Literally “the tradition of men”
- Colossians 2:13 Literally “and you being dead”
- Colossians 2:13 Here the participle (“being”) is understood as concessive
- Colossians 2:14 Here “by” is supplied as a component of the participle (“nailing”) which is understood as means
- Colossians 2:15 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had disarmed”) which is understood as temporal
- Colossians 2:15 Or “in him”
- Colossians 2:16 Some manuscripts have “and”
- Colossians 2:23 Literally “having”
- Colossians 2:23 *Here the participle (“having”) is understood as concessive
- Colossians 2:23 Literally “are not with any value”
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