New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 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.
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For it is my desire to give you news of the great fight I am making for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not seen my face in the flesh;
2 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,
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So that their hearts may be comforted, and that being joined together in love, they may come to the full wealth of the certain knowledge of the secret of God, even Christ,
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
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In whom are all the secret stores of wisdom and knowledge.
4 I am saying this so that no one may deceive you with plausible arguments.
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I say this so that you may not be turned away by any deceit of words.
5 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.
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For though I am not present in the flesh, still I am with you in the spirit, seeing with joy your order, and your unchanging faith in Christ.
6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him,
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As, then, you took Christ Jesus the Lord, so go on in him,
7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
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Rooted and based together in him, strong in the faith which the teaching gave you, giving praise to God at all times.
8 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.
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Take care that no one takes you away by force, through man's wisdom and deceit, going after the beliefs of men and the theories of the world, and not after Christ:
9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
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For in him all the wealth of God's being has a living form,
10 and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority.
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And you are complete in him, who is the head of all rule and authority:
11 In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ;
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In whom you had a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in 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.
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Having been put to death with him in baptism, by which you came to life again with him, through faith in the working of God, who made him come back from the dead.
13 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,
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And you, being dead through your sins and the evil condition of your flesh, to you, I say, he gave life together with him, and forgiveness of all our sins;
14 erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.
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Having put an end to the handwriting of the law which was against us, taking it out of the way by nailing it to his cross;
15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.
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Having made himself free from the rule of authorities and powers, he put them openly to shame, glorying over them in it.
16 Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths.
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For this reason let no man be your judge in any question of food or drink or feast days or new moons or Sabbaths:
17 These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
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For these are an image of the things which are to come; but the body is Christ's.
18 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,
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Let no man take your reward from you by consciously making little of himself and giving worship to angels; having his thoughts fixed on the things which he has seen, being foolishly lifted up in his natural mind,
19 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.
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And not joined to the Head, from whom all the body, being given strength and kept together through its joins and bands, has its growth with the increase of God.
20 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,
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If you were made free, by your death with Christ, from the rules of the world, why do you put yourselves under the authority of orders
21 "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch"?
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Which say there may be no touching, tasting, or taking in your hands,
22 All these regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply human commands and teachings.
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(Rules which are all to come to an end with their use) after the orders and teaching of men?
23 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.
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These things seem to have a sort of wisdom in self-ordered worship and making little of oneself, and being cruel to the body, not honouring it by giving it its natural use.
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.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.