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| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
| OLD TESTAMENT | NEW TESTAMENT | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The 7 Books | Old Testament History | Wisdom Books | Major Prophets | Minor Prophets | NT History | Epistles of St. Paul | General Writings | |||
| Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuter. Joshua Judges | Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings 1 Chron. 2 Chron. | Ezra Nehem. Tobit Judith Esther 1 Macc. 2 Macc. | Job Psalms Proverbs Eccles. Songs Wisdom Sirach | Isaiah Jeremiah Lament. Baruch Ezekiel Daniel | Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah | Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi | Matthew Mark Luke John Acts | Romans 1 Corinth. 2 Corinth. Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians | 1 Thess. 2 Thess. 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Hebrews | James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation |
| 1Θέλω γὰρ ὑμᾶς εἰδέναι ἡλίκον ἀγῶνα ἔχω ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν καὶ τῶν ἐν Λαοδικείᾳ καὶ ὅσοι οὐχ ἑόρακαν τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἐν σαρκί,2ἵνα παρακληθῶσιν αἱ καρδίαι αὐτῶν, συμβιβασθέντες ἐν ἀγάπῃ καὶ εἰς πᾶν πλοῦτος τῆς πληροφορίας τῆς συνέσεως, εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ μυστηρίου τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ,3ἐν ᾧ εἰσιν πάντες οἱ θησαυροὶ τῆς σοφίας καὶ γνώσεως ἀπόκρυφοι.4τοῦτο λέγω ἵνα μηδεὶς ὑμᾶς παραλογίζηται ἐν πιθανολογίᾳ.5εἰ γὰρ καὶ τῇ σαρκὶ ἄπειμι, ἀλλὰ τῷ πνεύματι σὺν ὑμῖν εἰμι, χαίρων καὶ βλέπων ὑμῶν τὴν τάξιν καὶ τὸ στερέωμα τῆς εἰς Χριστὸν πίστεως ὑμῶν.6Ὡς οὖν παρελάβετε τὸν Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν τὸν κύριον, ἐν αὐτῷ περιπατεῖτε,7ἐρριζωμένοι καὶ ἐποικοδομούμενοι ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ βεβαιούμενοι τῇ πίστει καθὼς ἐδιδάχθητε, περισσεύοντες ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ.8βλέπετε μή τις ὑμᾶς ἔσται ὁ συλαγωγῶν διὰ τῆς φιλοσοφίας καὶ κενῆς ἀπάτης κατὰ τὴν παράδοσιν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, κατὰ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου καὶ οὐ κατὰ Χριστόν,9ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ κατοικεῖ πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα τῆς θεότητος σωματικῶς,10καὶ ἐστὲ ἐν αὐτῷ πεπληρωμένοι, ὅς ἐστιν ἡ κεφαλὴ πάσης ἀρχῆς καὶ ἐξουσίας,11ἐν ᾧ καὶ περιετμήθητε περιτομῇ ἀχειροποιήτῳ ἐν τῇ ἀπεκδύσει τοῦ σώματος τῆς σαρκός, ἐν τῇ περιτομῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ,12συνταφέντες αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ βαπτισμῷ ἐν ᾧ καὶ συνηγέρθητε διὰ τῆς πίστεως τῆς ἐνεργείας τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἐγείραντος αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν:13καὶ ὑμᾶς νεκροὺς ὄντας [ἐν] τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καὶ τῇ ἀκροβυστίᾳ τῆς σαρκὸς ὑμῶν, συνεζωοποίησεν ὑμᾶς σὺν αὐτῷ, χαρισάμενος ἡμῖν πάντα τὰ παραπτώματα,14ἐξαλείψας τὸ καθ' ἡμῶν χειρόγραφον τοῖς δόγμασιν ὃ ἦν ὑπεναντίον ἡμῖν, καὶ αὐτὸ ἦρκεν ἐκ τοῦ μέσου προσηλώσας αὐτὸ τῷ σταυρῷ:15ἀπεκδυσάμενος τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παρρησίᾳ, θριαμβεύσας αὐτοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ.16Μὴ οὖν τις ὑμᾶς κρινέτω ἐν βρώσει καὶ ἐν πόσει ἢ ἐν μέρει ἑορτῆς ἢ νεομηνίας ἢ σαββάτων,17ἅ ἐστιν σκιὰ τῶν μελλόντων, τὸ δὲ σῶμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ.18μηδεὶς ὑμᾶς καταβραβευέτω θέλων ἐν ταπεινοφροσύνῃ καὶ θρησκείᾳ τῶν ἀγγέλων, ἃ ἑόρακεν ἐμβατεύων, εἰκῇ φυσιούμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ νοὸς τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ,19καὶ οὐ κρατῶν τὴν κεφαλήν, ἐξ οὗ πᾶν τὸ σῶμα διὰ τῶν ἁφῶν καὶ συνδέσμων ἐπιχορηγούμενον καὶ συμβιβαζόμενον αὔξει τὴν αὔξησιν τοῦ θεοῦ.20εἰ ἀπεθάνετε σὺν Χριστῷ ἀπὸ τῶν στοιχείων τοῦ κόσμου, τί ὡς ζῶντες ἐν κόσμῳ δογματίζεσθε,21μὴ ἅψῃ μηδὲ γεύσῃ μηδὲ θίγῃς,22ἅ ἐστιν πάντα εἰς φθορὰν τῇ ἀποχρήσει, κατὰ τὰ ἐντάλματα καὶ διδασκαλίας τῶν ἀνθρώπων;23ἅτινά ἐστιν λόγον μὲν ἔχοντα σοφίας ἐν ἐθελοθρησκίᾳ καὶ ταπεινοφροσύνῃ καὶ ἀφειδίᾳ σώματος, οὐκ ἐν τιμῇ τινι πρὸς πλησμονὴν τῆς σαρκός. | 1 And indeed, I must let you know what anxiety I feel over you, and the Laodiceans, and those others who have never seen me in person.2 I would bring courage to their hearts; I would see them well ordered in love, enriched in every way with fuller understanding, so as to penetrate the secret revealed to us by God the Father, and by Jesus Christ,[1]3 in whom the whole treasury of wisdom and knowledge is stored up.4 I tell you this, for fear that somebody may lead you astray with high-flown talk.5 In person, I am far away from you, but I am with you in spirit; and I rejoice to see how well disciplined you are, how firm is your faith in Christ.6 Go on, then, ordering your lives in Christ Jesus our Lord, according to the tradition you have received of him.7 You are to be rooted in him, built up on him, your faith established in the teaching you have received, overflowing with gratitude.[2]8 Take care not to let anyone cheat you with his philosophizings, with empty phantasies drawn from human tradition, from worldly principles; they were never Christ’s teaching.[3]9 In Christ the whole plenitude of Deity is embodied, and dwells in him,10 and it is in him that you find your completion; he is the fountain head from which all dominion and power proceed.11 In him you have been circumcised with a circumcision that was not man’s handiwork. It was effected, not by despoiling the natural body, but by Christ’s circumcision;[4]12 you, by baptism, have been united with his burial, united, too, with his resurrection, through your faith in that exercise of power by which God raised him from the dead.13 And in giving life to him, he gave life to you too, when you lay dead in your sins, with nature all uncircumcised in you. He condoned all your sins;14 cancelled the deed which excluded us, the decree made to our prejudice, swept it out of the way, by nailing it to the cross;15 and the dominions and powers he robbed of their prey, put them to an open shame, led them away in triumph, through him.[5]16 So no one must be allowed to take you to task over what you eat or drink, or in the matter of observing feasts, and new moons, and sabbath days;17 all these were but shadows cast by future events, the reality is found in Christ.18 You must not allow anyone to cheat you by insisting on a false humility which addresses its worship to angels. Such a man takes his stand upon false visions; his is the ill-founded confidence that comes of human speculation.19 He is not united to that head of ours, on whom all the body depends, supplied and unified by joint and ligament, and so growing up with a growth which is divine.20 If, by dying with Christ, you have parted company with worldly principles, why do you live by these prescriptions, as if the world were still your element?21 Prescriptions against touching or tasting, or handling22 those creatures which vanish altogether as we enjoy them, all based on the will and the word of men?23 They will win you, no doubt, the name of philosophers, for being so full of scruple, so submissive, so unsparing of your bodies; but they are all forgotten, when nature asks to be gratified.[6] | 1Volo enim vos scire qualem sollicitudinem habeam pro vobis, et pro iis qui sunt Laodiciæ, et quicumque non viderunt faciem meam in carne:2ut consolentur corda ipsorum, instructi in caritate, et in omnes divitias plenitudinis intellectus, in agnitionem mysterii Dei Patris et Christi Jesu:3in quo sunt omnes thesauri sapientiæ et scientiæ absconditi.4Hoc autem dico, ut nemo vos decipiat in sublimitate sermonum.5Nam etsi corpore absens sum, sed spiritu vobiscum sum: gaudens, et videns ordinem vestrum, et firmamentum ejus, quæ in Christo est, fidei vestræ.6Sicut ergo accepistis Jesum Christum Dominum, in ipso ambulate,7radicati, et superædificati in ipso, et confirmati fide, sicut et didicistis, abundantes in illo in gratiarum actione.8Videte ne quis vos decipiat per philosophiam, et inanem fallaciam secundum traditionem hominum, secundum elementa mundi, et non secundum Christum:9quia in ipso inhabitat omnis plenitudo divinitatis corporaliter:10et estis in illo repleti, qui est caput omnis principatus et potestatis:11in quo et circumcisi estis circumcisione non manu facta in expoliatione corporis carnis, sed in circumcisione Christi:12consepulti ei in baptismo, in quo et resurrexistis per fidem operationis Dei, qui suscitavit illum a mortuis.13Et vos cum mortui essetis in delictis, et præputio carnis vestræ, convivificavit cum illo, donans vobis omnia delicta:14delens quod adversus nos erat chirographum decreti, quod erat contrarium nobis, et ipsum tulit de medio, affigens illud cruci:15et expolians principatus, et potestates traduxit confidenter, palam triumphans illos in semetipso.16Nemo ergo vos judicet in cibo, aut in potu, aut in parte diei festi, aut neomeniæ, aut sabbatorum:17quæ sunt umbra futurorum: corpus autem Christi.18Nemo vos seducat, volens in humilitate, et religione angelorum, quæ non vidit ambulans, frustra inflatus sensu carnis suæ,19et non tenens caput, ex quo totum corpus per nexus, et conjunctiones subministratum, et constructum crescit in augmentum Dei.20Si ergo mortui estis cum Christo ab elementis hujus mundi: quid adhuc tamquam viventes in mundo decernitis?21Ne tetigeritis, neque gustaveritis, neque contrectaveritis:22quæ sunt omnia in interitum ipso usu, secundum præcepta et doctrinas hominum:23quæ sunt rationem quidem habentia sapientiæ in superstitione, et humilitate, et non ad parcendum corpori, non in honore aliquo ad saturitatem carnis. |
[1] The Greek manuscripts, and many of the Latin, have ‘by God, the Father of Jesus Christ’.
[2] At the end of this verse, some Latin manuscripts add the words ‘in him’; others ‘in it’ (meaning the faith), which is the sense of the Greek.
[3] ‘Worldly principles’; cf. p. 195, note 1. Here, as there, some commentators hold that St Paul is referring to theelements (the sun, moon, stars, etc.) which were worshipped by the heathen; others, with more probability, that he is thinking of Jewish ordinances, like circumcision, as the firstrudimentary lessons which mankind took in religion. But the reference, here and in verse 20 below, may be more general.
[4] ‘By Christ’s circumcision’; that is, either the circumcision of our Lord in his infancy, here regarded as mystically efficacious on our behalf, or the spiritual circumcision which he bestows on us by Baptism into his Death. The Greek manuscripts have ‘It was effected by the despoiling of the natural body, by the circumcision of Christ’; it is not clear in what sense.
[5]vv. 14 and 15: It is not certain whether the subject here is meant to be God, or Christ himself; the translation given assumes that the former view is right. The ‘deed which excluded us’ is the ceremonial law of Moses, which now no longer stands as a barrier between Jew and Gentile (cf. Eph. 2.15). This law was mediated by angels (Gal. 3.19), and these angels, whom the false teachers at Colossae worship as ‘dominions and powers’, are here represented as having been relieved of their duty as its custodians, and deputed to attend, instead, on the triumphal progress of the risen Christ. ‘Through him’ at the end of verse 15 might (according to the Greek) be translated ‘through it’, i.e. the Cross.
[6] It is possible to understand this verse in the Greek quite differently, ‘They are in accordance with right reason, when they shew a willing piety, a true humility, a determination not to spare the body; but often the motive is simply to gratify natural vanity’.
