Colossians 2

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I am having for you and for those in Laodicea and all who have not seen me face to face,	1 For I want you to know the kind of solicitude that I have for you, and for those who are at Laodicea, as well as for those who have not seen my face in the flesh.
2 that their hearts may be encouraged as they are brought together in love, to have all the richness of fully assured understanding, for the knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ,	2 May their hearts be consoled and instructed in charity, with all the riches of a plenitude of understanding, with knowledge of the mystery of God the Father and of Christ Jesus.
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.	3 For in him are hidden all treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 I say this so that no one may deceive you by specious arguments.	4 Now I say this, so that no one may deceive you with grandiose words.
5 For even if I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing as I observe your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.	5 For though I may be absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit. And I rejoice as I gaze upon your order and its foundation, which is in Christ, your faith.
6 So, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him,	6 Therefore, just as you have received the Lord Jesus Christ, walk in him.
7 rooted in him and built upon him and established in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.	7 Be rooted and continually built up in Christ. And be confirmed in the faith, just as you have also learned it, increasing in him with acts of thanksgiving.
8 See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy according to human tradition, according to the elemental powers of the world and not according to Christ.	8 See to it that no one deceives you through philosophy and empty falsehoods, as found in the traditions of men, in accord with the influences of the world, and not in accord with Christ.
9 For in him dwells the whole fullness of the deity bodily,	9 For in him, all the fullness of the Divine Nature dwells bodily.
10 and you share in this fullness in him, who is the head of every principality and power.	10 And in him, you have been filled; for he is the head of all principality and power.
11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not administered by hand, by stripping off the carnal body, with the circumcision of Christ.	11 In him also, you have been circumcised with a circumcision not made by hand, not by the despoiling of the body of flesh, but by the circumcision of Christ.
12 You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.	12 You have been buried with him in baptism. In him also, you have risen again through faith, by the work of God, who raised him up from the dead.
13 And even when you were dead (in) transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he brought you to life along with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions;	13 And when you were dead in your transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he enlivened you, together with him, forgiving you of all transgressions,
14 obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims, which was opposed to us, he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross;	14 and wiping away the handwriting of the decree which was against us, which was contrary to us. And he has taken this away from your midst, affixing it to the Cross.
15 despoiling the principalities and the powers, he made a public spectacle of them, leading them away in triumph by it.	15 And so, despoiling principalities and powers, he has led them away confidently and openly, triumphing over them in himself.
16 Let no one, then, pass judgment on you in matters of food and drink or with regard to a festival or new moon or sabbath.	16 Therefore, let no one judge you as concerns food or drink, or a particular feast day, or feast days of new moons, or of Sabbaths.
17 These are shadows of things to come; the reality belongs to Christ.	17 For these are a shadow of the future, but the body is of Christ.
18 Let no one disqualify you, delighting in self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions, inflated without reason by his fleshly mind,	18 Let no one seduce you, preferring base things and a religion of Angels, walking according to what he has not seen, being vainly inflated by the sensations of his flesh,
19 and not holding closely to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and bonds, achieves the growth that comes from God.	19 and not holding up the head, with which the whole body, by its underlying joints and ligaments, is joined together and grows with an increase that is of God.
20 If you died with Christ to the elemental powers of the world, why do you submit to regulations as if you were still living in the world?	20 So then, if you have died with Christ to the influences of this world, why do you still make decisions as if you were living in the world?
21 "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"	21 Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle these things,
22 These are all things destined to perish with use; they accord with human precepts and teachings.	22 which all lead to destruction by their very use, in accord with the precepts and doctrines of men.
23 While they have a semblance of wisdom in rigor of devotion and self-abasement (and) severity to the body, they are of no value against gratification of the flesh.	23 Such ideas have at least an intention to attain to wisdom, but through superstition and debasement, not sparing the body, and they are without any honor in satiating the flesh.