1 I want you to know how hard I'm working for you, and for those at Laodicea—in fact for all those who haven't met me personally— 2 so that you may be encouraged. May you be bound together in love, experiencing the great benefit of being completely sure in your understanding, for this is what the true knowledge of God brings. May you know the revealed mystery of God, which is Christ! 3 In him you can discover all the rich wisdom and knowledge of God. 4 I'm telling you this so that no one will fool you by spinning you a tale. 5 Even though I'm not physically there with you, I'm with you in spirit. I'm so happy to see the way you stick together and how firm you are in your trust in Christ. 6 Just as you accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, go on following him, 7 grounded in him and built up by him. May your trust in him continue to grow strong, following what you were taught, full of gratitude to God. 8 Watch out that nobody enslaves you through their philosophy and worthless delusions, following human traditions and concepts of this world, and not following Christ. 9 For the fullness of God's divine nature lives in Christ in bodily form, 10 and you have been made full in him. He is supreme over every ruler and authority. 11 You were “circumcised” in him but not by human hands. You have been set free from sinful human nature by the “circumcision” Christ performed. 12 You were buried with him in baptism, and you were raised with him through your trust in what God did by raising him from the dead. 13 And even though you were dead because of your sins and being physically “uncircumcised,” he brought you to life together with him. He has forgiven us all our sins. 14 He wiped out the record of our debts according to the Law that was written down against us; he took away this barrier by nailing it to the cross. 15 He stripped away the power of spiritual rulers and authorities, and having publicly revealed what they were truly like, he led them captive behind him in victory. 16 So don't let anyone criticize you for what you eat or what you drink, or regarding which religious festival, new moon ritual, or ceremonial sabbaths you choose to observe. 17 These are just a shadow of what was to come, for the physical reality is Christ. 18 Don't let anyone cheat you out of your prize by insisting you have to beat yourself, or worship angels. They think they are better than anyone else because of visions they say they've had, and become ridiculously conceited in their sinful minds. 19 Such people are not connected to the head that directs the body, nourished and joined together through the body's sinews and muscles. As the body is united together it grows the way God wants it to grow. 20 If you died with Christ to the religious demands that this world insists upon, why would you make yourself subject to such demands as if you were still part of this world? 21 Things like: don't handle that, don't taste that, don't touch that! 22 These commands refer to things that don't last since they're used up, and they're based on man-made requirements and teachings. 23 Such rules may make some kind of sense to those who practice self-centered piety, who are so proud of being humble, and who “mortify the body;” but in reality they don't help at all in dealing with sinful desires.
Colossians · Free Bible Version
Colossians 2 Free Bible Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Cross references (23)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Colossians 1:29; Philippians 1:30; Revelation 3:14–22; Colossians 4:12–13; Revelation 1:11
- 2 Colossians 1:27; Colossians 4:8; Romans 16:25; Colossians 3:14; Ephesians 6:22
- 3 1 Corinthians 1:24; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Romans 11:33; 1 Corinthians 2:6–8; 2 Timothy 3:15–17
- 4 1 John 4:1; Ephesians 4:14; Romans 16:18–19; Matthew 24:4; 2 John 7
- 5 1 Corinthians 5:3–4; 1 Thessalonians 2:17; 1 Corinthians 16:13; 2 Peter 3:17–18; 1 Peter 5:9
- 6 Colossians 1:10; 1 John 2:6; 1 Thessalonians 4:1; Ephesians 5:1–2; Galatians 2:20
- 7 Ephesians 3:17; Jeremiah 17:8; Ephesians 2:20–22; John 15:4–5; Colossians 1:23
- 8 1 Timothy 6:20; Ephesians 5:6; Matthew 7:15; Galatians 4:9; 1 Corinthians 3:18–19
- 9 Colossians 1:19; John 1:14; John 10:30; 1 Timothy 3:16; John 14:9–10
- 10 Ephesians 3:19; Colossians 1:16–18; 1 Corinthians 1:30–31; 1 Peter 3:22; Ephesians 1:20–23
- 11 Romans 2:29; Philippians 3:3; Romans 6:6; Deuteronomy 30:6; Galatians 5:24
- 12 Romans 6:3–5; Galatians 3:27; 1 Peter 3:21; Ephesians 2:4–6; Colossians 3:1–2
- 13 Ephesians 2:5–6; Romans 8:11; Ephesians 2:1; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Hebrews 9:14
- 14 Ephesians 2:14–16; Isaiah 44:22; Isaiah 43:25; Hebrews 8:13; 1 Peter 2:24
- 15 Hebrews 2:14; Ephesians 4:8; Matthew 12:29; John 12:31–32; Isaiah 53:12
- 16 Romans 14:5–6; Romans 14:10; Galatians 4:10; Romans 14:13–17; Romans 14:2–3
- 17 Hebrews 10:1; Hebrews 8:5; John 1:17; Hebrews 9:9; Hebrews 4:1–11
- 18 Colossians 2:8; 1 John 4:1–2; Colossians 2:23; 1 Timothy 4:1; 1 Timothy 1:7
- 19 Ephesians 4:15–16; John 15:4–6; 1 Timothy 2:4–6; Romans 12:4–5; 1 Peter 3:8
- 20 Colossians 2:8; Colossians 2:14; Colossians 2:16; Galatians 4:3; Romans 7:4–6
- 21 1 Timothy 4:3; Isaiah 52:11; Genesis 3:3; 2 Corinthians 6:17
- 22 Isaiah 29:13; Titus 1:14; 1 Corinthians 6:13; Mark 7:18–19; Mark 7:7–13
- 23 1 Timothy 4:8; Colossians 2:8; Colossians 2:22; Colossians 2:18; Matthew 23:27–28
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Again, he takes hold on them beforehand with their own testimony, saying, "As therefore ye received." We introduce no strange addition, he saith, neither do ye. "Walk ye in Him," for He is the Way that leadeth to the Father: not in the Angels; this way leadeth not thither.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 13 (1889)
And they state that it was clearly on this account that Paul said, "And He Himself is all things;" and again, "All things are to Him, and of Him are all things;" and further, "In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead;" and yet again, "All things are gathered together by God in Christ." Thus do they interpret these …
… Thy Spirit, by Thy good and pious servant: "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ: for in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." And since at that time (as Thou, O Light of my heart, knowest) the words …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
For not otherwise than by the cross did He effect this; as Paul likewise said: "And the handwriting which was contrary to us, even it He took out of the way, nailing it to His cross." And his saying too, "He shall baptize you with the Spirit," is that of one who was foretelling the events after the resurrection.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
A most precious possession therefore is the knowledge of doctrines: also there is need of a wakeful soul, since there are many that make spoil through philosophy and vain deceit.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)