Colossians 2

1For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen my face in the flesh,

2so that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love and unto all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, unto the knowledge of the mystery of God, Messiah,

3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

4I say this so that no one may deceive you with persuasive argument.

5For even if I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing and seeing your good order and the firmness of your faith in Messiah.

6Therefore, just as you received Messiah Jesus the Lord, walk in him,

7having been rooted and being built up in him, and being established in the faith just as you were taught, overflowing with thanksgiving.

8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental principles of the world, and not according to Messiah.

9For in him all the fullness of deity dwells bodily,

10and in him you have been made full, who is the head of every ruler and authority.

11In him you also were circumcised with a circumcision not made by hands, in the removal of the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Messiah,

12having been buried with him in baptism, in which you also were raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

13And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,

14having wiped out the record of debt against us in decrees, which was opposed to us, and he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

15Having disarmed the rulers and the authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in him.

16Therefore, let no one judge you in food or in drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths.

17These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body is Messiah's.

18Let no one disqualify you, delighting in humility and the worship of angels, dwelling on what he has seen, vainly puffed up by the mind of his flesh,

19and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, being supplied and held together through the joints and ligaments, grows with the growth of God.

20If you died with the Messiah from the elemental principles of the world, why, as if living in the world, are you submitting yourselves to decrees:

21“Do not handle, nor taste, nor touch,”

22These all perish with use, according to the commandments and teachings of men.

23These indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and humility and harsh treatment of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.