Volo enim vos scire qualem sollicitudinem habeam pro vobis, et pro iis qui sunt Laodiciæ, et quicumque non viderunt faciem meam in carne:

For I would have you know, what manner of care I have for you and for them that are at Laodicea, and whosoever have not seen my face in the flesh:

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.

ut consolentur corda ipsorum, instructi in caritate, et in omnes divitias plenitudinis intellectus, in agnitionem mysterii Dei Patris et Christi Jesu:

That their hearts may be comforted, being instructed in charity, and unto all riches of fulness of understanding, unto the knowledge of the mystery of God the Father and of Christ Jesus:

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,

in quo sunt omnes thesauri sapientiæ et scientiæ absconditi.

In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

in whom the whole treasury of wisdom and knowledge is stored up.

Hoc autem dico, ut nemo vos decipiat in sublimitate sermonum.

Now this I say, that no man may deceive you by loftiness of words.

I tell you this, for fear that somebody may lead you astray with high-flown talk.

Nam etsi corpore absens sum, sed spiritu vobiscum sum: gaudens, et videns ordinem vestrum, et firmamentum ejus, quæ in Christo est, fidei vestræ.

For though I be absent in body, yet in spirit I am with you; rejoicing, and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith which is in Christ.

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.

Sicut ergo accepistis Jesum Christum Dominum, in ipso ambulate,

As therefore you have received Jesus Christ the Lord, walk ye in him;

Go on, then, ordering your lives in Christ Jesus our Lord, according to the tradition you have received of him.

radicati, et superædificati in ipso, et confirmati fide, sicut et didicistis, abundantes in illo in gratiarum actione.

Rooted and built up in him, and confirmed in the faith, as also you have learned, abounding in him in thanksgiving.

You are to be rooted in him, built up on him, your faith established in the teaching you have received, overflowing with gratitude.

Videte ne quis vos decipiat per philosophiam, et inanem fallaciam secundum traditionem hominum, secundum elementa mundi, et non secundum Christum:

Beware lest any man cheat you by philosophy, and vain deceit; according to the tradition of men according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ.

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.

quia in ipso inhabitat omnis plenitudo divinitatis corporaliter:

For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead corporeally;

In Christ the whole plenitude of Deity is embodied, and dwells in him,

et estis in illo repleti, qui est caput omnis principatus et potestatis:

And you are filled in him, who is the head of all principality and power:

and it is in him that you find your completion; he is the fountain head from which all dominion and power proceed.

in quo et circumcisi estis circumcisione non manu facta in expoliatione corporis carnis, sed in circumcisione Christi:

In whom also you are circumcised with circumcision not made by hand, in despoiling of the body of the flesh, but in the circumcision of Christ:

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;

consepulti ei in baptismo, in quo et resurrexistis per fidem operationis Dei, qui suscitavit illum a mortuis.

Buried with him in baptism, in whom also you are risen again by the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him up from the dead.

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.

Et vos cum mortui essetis in delictis, et præputio carnis vestræ, convivificavit cum illo, donans vobis omnia delicta:

And you, when you were dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh; he hath quickened together with him, forgiving you all offences:

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;

delens quod adversus nos erat chirographum decreti, quod erat contrarium nobis, et ipsum tulit de medio, affigens illud cruci:

Blotting out the handwriting of the decree that was against us, which was contrary to us. And he hath taken the same out of the way, fastening it to the cross:

cancelled the deed which excluded us, the decree made to our prejudice, swept it out of the way, by nailing it to the cross;

et expolians principatus, et potestates traduxit confidenter, palam triumphans illos in semetipso.

And despoiling the principalities and powers, he hath exposed them confidently in open shew, triumphing over them in himself.

and the dominions and powers he robbed of their prey, put them to an open shame, led them away in triumph, through him.

Nemo ergo vos judicet in cibo, aut in potu, aut in parte diei festi, aut neomeniæ, aut sabbatorum:

Let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink, or in respect of a festival day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbaths,

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;

quæ sunt umbra futurorum: corpus autem Christi.

Which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ.

all these were but shadows cast by future events, the reality is found in Christ.

Nemo vos seducat, volens in humilitate, et religione angelorum, quæ non vidit ambulans, frustra inflatus sensu carnis suæ,

Let no man seduce you, willing in humility, and religion of angels, walking in the things which he hath not seen, in vain puffed up by the sense of his flesh,

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.

et non tenens caput, ex quo totum corpus per nexus, et conjunctiones subministratum, et constructum crescit in augmentum Dei.

And not holding the head, from which the whole body, by joints and bands, being supplied with nourishment and compacted, groweth unto the increase of God.

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.

Si ergo mortui estis cum Christo ab elementis hujus mundi: quid adhuc tamquam viventes in mundo decernitis?

If then you be dead with Christ from the elements of this world, why do you yet decree as though living in the world?

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?

Ne tetigeritis, neque gustaveritis, neque contrectaveritis:

Touch not, taste not, handle not:

Prescriptions against touching or tasting, or handling

quæ sunt omnia in interitum ipso usu, secundum præcepta et doctrinas hominum:

Which all are unto destruction by the very use, according to the precepts and doctrines of men.

those creatures which vanish altogether as we enjoy them, all based on the will and the word of men?

quæ sunt rationem quidem habentia sapientiæ in superstitione, et humilitate, et non ad parcendum corpori, non in honore aliquo ad saturitatem carnis.

Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in superstition and humility, and not sparing the body; not in any honour to the filling of the flesh.

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.