1For I want you to know how great a struggle 2Tm 4:7 I have for you, for those in Laodicea, Col 4:13-16; Rv 1:11; 3:14 and for all who have not seen me in person.

2I want their hearts to be encouraged Lk 16:25; Col 4:8 and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery Php 3:8 — Christ. Other mss read mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ ; other ms variations exist on this v. Col 1:27

3All the treasures of wisdom Pr 3:19; Is 11:2; 45:3; Jr 23:5; Ac 7:22; 1Co 1:21 and knowledge 1Co 14:6 are hidden in Him.

4I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive arguments.

5For I may be absent in body, but I am with you in spirit, Ps 51:12; 1Th 2:17 rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ.

6Therefore, as you have received Jd 3 Christ Jesus the Lord, Eph 3:11 walk in Him,

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

8Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, Mk 7:3 based on the elemental forces of the world, and not based on Christ. 1Tm 6:20

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

10and you have been filled by Him, who is the head 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, Col 1:22; 3:9 in the circumcision of the Messiah. = His death Mt 1:17; Eph 5:2

12Having been buried with Him Rm 6:4 in baptism, you were also raised with Him Eph 2:6; Col 3:1 through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 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 out of the way by nailing it to the cross. Lk 9:23; 23:26

15He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; He triumphed over them by Him. Or them through it ; = through the cross Lk 10:18; Jn 12:31; 16:11; Eph 6:12; Heb 2:14

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

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

18Let no one disqualify you, Or no one cheat us out of your prize 1Co 9:24; Php 3:14 insisting on ascetic practices Col 3:12 and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm and inflated 1Co 4:6 without cause by his unspiritual Lit fleshly mind.

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

20If you died with the Messiah Rm 6:8; 1Pt 2:24 to the elemental forces 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 destroyed by being used up; they are commands and doctrines of men.

23Although these have a reputation of wisdom Ac 7:22 by promoting ascetic practices, humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence. Lit value against indulgence of the flesh 1Tm 4:8