Col 2 | ESV | STEP | For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face ,

1 For I want you to know ^ahow great a ^bstruggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that ^ctheir hearts may be encouraged, being ^dknit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of ^eGod’s mystery, which is Christ, 3 ^fin whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order ^gthat no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For ^hthough I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your ⁱgood order and ^jthe firmness of your faith in Christ.

Alive in Christ

6 ^kTherefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 ^lrooted and ^mbuilt up in him and ⁿestablished in the faith, just ^oas you were taught, abounding ^pin thanksgiving.

8 See to it that no one takes you captive by ^qphilosophy and ^rempty deceit, according to ^shuman tradition, according to the ^telemental spirits ^{▼▼Or elementary principles; also verse 20} of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For ^vin him the whole fullness of deity dwells ^wbodily, 10 and ^xyou have been filled in him, who is ^ythe head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also ^zyou were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by ^aaputting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 ^abhaving been buried with him in baptism, in which ^acyou were also raised with him through faith in ^adthe powerful working of God, ^aewho raised him from the dead. 13 ^afAnd you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God ^agmade alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by ^ahcanceling ^aithe record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 ^ajHe disarmed the rulers and authorities ^{▼▼Probably demonic rulers and authorities} and ^alput them to open shame, by ^amtriumphing over them in him. ^{▼▼Or in it (that is, the cross)}

Let No One Disqualify You

16 Therefore let no one ^aopass judgment on you ^apin questions of food and drink, or with regard to ^aqa festival or ^ara new moon or a Sabbath. 17 ^asThese are a shadow of the things to come, but ^atthe substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one ^audisqualify you, ^avinsisting on asceticism and worship of angels, ^awgoing on in detail about visions, ^{▼▼Or about the things he has seen} ^aypuffed up without reason by ^azhis sensuous mind, 19 and ^banot ^bbholding 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 ^bcyou died to the ^bdelemental spirits of the world, ^bewhy, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 ^bf“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 ( ^bgreferring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to ^bhhuman precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in ^bipromoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are ^bjof no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.