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¹ For I want you to know ^(a)how great a ^(b)struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, ² that ^(c)their hearts may be encouraged, being ^(d)knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of ^(e)God's mystery, which is Christ, ^3 (f)in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴ I say this in order ^(g)that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. ⁵ For ^(h)though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your ⁽ⁱ⁾good order and ^(j)the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Alive in Christ

^6 (k)Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, ^7 (l)rooted and ^(m)built up in him and ⁽ⁿ⁾established in the faith, just ^(o)as you were taught, abounding ^(p)in thanksgiving.

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive by ^(q)philosophy and ^(r)empty deceit, according to ^(s)human tradition, according to the ^(t)elemental spirits^[a] of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹ For ^(u)in him the whole fullness of deity dwells ^(v)bodily, ¹⁰ and ^(w)you have been filled in him, who is ^(x)the head of all rule and authority. ¹¹ In him also ^(y)you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by ^(z)putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, ^12 (aa)having been buried with him in baptism, in which ^(ab)you were also raised with him through faith in ^(ac)the powerful working of God, ^(ad)who raised him from the dead. ^13 (ae)And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God ^(af)made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, ¹⁴ by ^(ag)canceling ^(ah)the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. ^15 (ai)He disarmed the rulers and authorities^[b] and ^(aj)put them to open shame, by ^(ak)triumphing over them in him.^[c]

Let No One Disqualify You

¹⁶ Therefore let no one ^(al)pass judgment on you ^(am)in questions of food and drink, or with regard to ^(an)a festival or ^(ao)a new moon or a Sabbath. ^17 (ap)These are a shadow of the things to come, but ^(aq)the substance belongs to Christ. ¹⁸ Let no one ^(ar)disqualify you, ^(as)insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, ^(at)going on in detail about visions,^{[d] (au)}puffed up without reason by ^(av)his sensuous mind, ¹⁹ and ^(aw)not ^(ax)holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

²⁰ If with Christ ^(ay)you died to the ^(az)elemental spirits of the world, ^(ba)why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— ^21 (bb)"Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" ²² (^(bc)referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to ^(bd)human precepts and teachings? ²³ These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in ^(be)promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are ^(bf)of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.