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want you to know how much I am struggling for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me in person. 2 I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of the mystery of God, that is, Christ Himself, 3 In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I am saying this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. 5 For though I am absent in the flesh, I am present with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
6 So as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with thanksgiving.
8 Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, which is based on human tradition and the basic principles of the world and is not based on Christ.
9 For in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head over every ruler and authority. 11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, in the circumcision done by Christ, 12 having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.
13 And when you were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Him and forgave all our trespasses, 14 having cancelled the handwritten code, that was against us with all its requirements and that stood opposed to us. He took this out of the way by nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink, or with regard to a religious festival or a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of what was to come, but the substance, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone cheat you of the reward, insisting on false humility and the worship of angels, and going into great detail about supposed visions, while his unspiritual mind is puffed up with selfish notions. 19 He has lost his hold with the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
20 If you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why do you live as though you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 All these regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply based on human commands and teachings. 23 Although they do indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed religion, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body, they are of no value in restraining self-indulgence.