6So then, just as you have received2:6 Jd 3 Christ Jesus as Lord,2:6 Eph 3:11 continue to walk in him,

7being rooted and built up in him2:7 Eph 2:20 and established in the faith, just as you were taught,2:7 Eph 4:21; Heb 13:9 and overflowing with gratitude.

8Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition,2:8 Mk 7:3 based on the elements of the world, rather than Christ.2:8 1Tm 6:20

9For the entire fullness2:9 Php 2:6; Col 1:19 of God’s nature dwells bodily2:9 Or nature lives in a human body in Christ,

10and you have been filled by him, who is the head2:10 1Co 11:3; Eph 1:22; 4:15; 5:23 over every ruler and authority.

11You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh,2:11 Col 1:22; 3:9 in the circumcision of Christ,2:11 Mt 1:17; Eph 5:2

12when you were buried with him2:12 Rm 6:4 in baptism, in which you were also raised with him2:12 Eph 2:6; Col 3:1 through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.2:12 Mt 17:9; Jn 5:25; 20:9; 21:14; Ac 2:24

13And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses.

14He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.2:14 Lk 9:23; 23:26

15He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.2:15 Or them through it2:15 Lk 10:18; Jn 12:31; 16:11; Eph 6:12; Heb 2:14

16Therefore, don’t let anyone judge2:16 Lk 6:37 you in regard to food and drink2:16 Jn 6:55; Rm 14:3,17; 1Co 8:4; Heb 9:10 or in the matter of a festival or a new moon2:16 Ps 81:3 or a Sabbath day.2:16 Or or sabbaths

17These are a shadow2:17 Heb 8:5; 10:1 of what was to come;2:17 Rm 8:38 the substance is2:17 Or substance belongs to Christ.2:17 Gl 3:24; 5:2

18Let no one condemn2:18 Or disqualify you2:18 1Co 9:24; Php 3:14 by delighting in ascetic practices2:18 Col 3:12 and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm. Such people are inflated2:18 1Co 4:6 by empty notions of their unspiritual2:18 Lit fleshly mind.

19He doesn’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body,2:19 1Co 6:13; Eph 4:4 nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with growth from God.

20If you died with Christ2:20 Rm 6:8; 1Pt 2:24 to the elements of this world, 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”?

22All these regulations refer to what is destined to perish by being used up; they are human commands and doctrines.

23Although these have a reputation for wisdom2:23 Ac 7:22 by promoting self-made religion, false humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence.2:23 Lit value against indulgence of the flesh2:23 1Tm 4:8