rsv Colossians:2:6-23 SEEK
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As therefore you received Christ Jesus the Lord ,
so live in him ,
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rooted and built up in him and established in the faith ,
just as you were taught ,
abounding in thanksgiving .
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See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit ,
according to human tradition ,
according to the elemental spirits of the universe ,
and not according to Christ .
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For in him the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily ,
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and you have come to fulness of life in him ,
who is the head of all rule and authority .
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In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands ,
by putting off the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ ;
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and you were buried with him in baptism ,
in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God ,
who raised him from the dead .
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And you ,
who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh ,
God made alive together with him ,
having forgiven us all our trespasses ,
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having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands ;
this he set aside ,
nailing it to the cross .
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He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them ,
triumphing over them in him .
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Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a sabbath .
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These are only a shadow of what is to come ;
but the substance belongs to Christ .
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Let no one disqualify you ,
insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels ,
taking his stand on visions ,
puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind ,
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and not holding 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 .
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If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe ,
why do you live as if you still belonged to the world ?
Why do you submit to regulations ,
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Do not handle ,
Do not taste ,
Do not touch "
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referring to things which all perish as they are used ),
according to human precepts and doctrines ?
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These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting rigor of devotion and self-abasement and severity to the body ,
but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh .