Common English Bible CEB
New Revised Standard NRS
1 I want you to know how much I struggle for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who haven't known me personally.
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For I want you to know how much I am struggling for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me face to face.
2 My goal is that their hearts would be encouraged and united together in love so that they might have all the riches of assurance that come with understanding, so that they might have the knowledge of the secret plan of God, namely Christ.
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I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ himself,
3 All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in him.
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in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 I'm telling you this so that no one deceives you with convincing arguments,
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I am saying this so that no one may deceive you with plausible arguments.
5 because even though I am absent physically, I'm with you in spirit. I'm happy to see the discipline and stability of your faith in Christ.
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For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, and I rejoice to see your morale and the firmness of your faith in Christ.
6 So live in Christ Jesus the Lord in the same way as you received him.
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As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him,
7 Be rooted and built up in him, be established in faith, and overflow with thanksgiving just as you were taught.
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rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
8 See to it that nobody enslaves you with philosophy and foolish deception, which conform to human traditions and the way the world thinks and acts rather than Christ.
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See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ.
9 All the fullness of deity lives in Christ's body.
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For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
10 And you have been filled by him, who is the head of every ruler and authority.
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and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority.
11 You were also circumcised by him. This wasn't performed by human hands—the whole body was removed through this circumcision by Christ.
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In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ;
12 You were buried with him through baptism and raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
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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 When you were dead because of the things you had done wrong and because your body wasn't circumcised, God made you alive with Christ and forgave all the things you had done wrong.
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And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses,
14 He destroyed the record of the debt we owed, with its requirements that worked against us. He canceled it by nailing it to the cross.
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erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.
15 When he disarmed the rulers and authorities, he exposed them to public disgrace by leading them in a triumphal parade.
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He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.
16 So don't let anyone judge you about eating or drinking or about a festival, a new moon observance, or sabbaths.
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Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths.
17 These religious practices are only a shadow of what was coming—the body that cast the shadow is Christ.
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These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
18 Don't let anyone who wants to practice harsh self-denial and worship angels rob you of the prize. They go into detail about what they have seen in visions and have become unjustifiably arrogant by their selfish way of thinking.
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Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking,
19 They don't stay connected to the head. The head nourishes and supports the whole body through the joints and ligaments, so the body grows with a growth that is from God.
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and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.
20 If you died with Christ to the way the world thinks and acts, why do you submit to rules and regulations as though you were living in the world?
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If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations,
21 "Don't handle!""Don't taste!""Don't touch!"
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"Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch"?
22 All these things cease to exist when they are used. Such rules are human commandments and teachings.
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All these regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply human commands and teachings.
23 They look like they are wise with this self-made religion and their self-denial by the harsh treatment of the body, but they are no help against indulging in selfish immoral behavior.
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These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-imposed piety, humility, and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value in checking self-indulgence.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.