1 F or I want you to know how great is my solicitude for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who '> like yourselves] have never seen my face and known me personally.

Desidero infatti che sappiate quale arduo combattimento sostengo per voi, per quelli di Laodicea e per tutti quelli che non mi hanno mai visto di persona,

2 t hat their hearts may be braced (comforted, cheered, and encouraged) as they are knit together in love, that they may come to have all the abounding wealth and blessings of assured conviction of understanding, and that they may become progressively more intimately acquainted with and may know more definitely and accurately and thoroughly that mystic secret of God, Christ (the Anointed One).

affinché i loro cuori siano incoraggiati e, uniti mediante l’amore, siano dotati di tutta la ricchezza della piena intelligenza per conoscere a fondo il mistero di Dio, cioè Cristo,

3 I n Him all the treasures of wisdom ( comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God) and knowledge and enlightenment are stored up and lie hidden.

nel quale tutti i tesori della sapienza e della conoscenza sono nascosti. Avvertimento contro le false dottrine

4 I say this in order that no one may mislead and delude you by plausible and persuasive and attractive arguments and beguiling speech.

Dico questo affinché nessuno vi inganni con parole seducenti;

5 F or though I am away from you in body, yet I am with you in spirit, delighted at the sight of your orderly array and the firmness and the solid front and steadfastness of your faith in Christ '> leaning of the entire human personality on Him in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness].

perché, sebbene sia assente di persona, sono però con voi spiritualmente, e mi rallegro vedendo il vostro ordine e la fermezza della vostra fede in Cristo.

6 A s you have therefore received Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk (regulate your lives and conduct yourselves) in union with and conformity to Him.

Come dunque avete ricevuto Cristo Gesù, il Signore, così camminate in lui;

7 H ave the roots firmly and deeply planted, being continually built up in Him, becoming increasingly more confirmed and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and abounding and overflowing in it with thanksgiving.

radicati ed edificati in lui, saldi nella fede, come vi è stata insegnata, e abbondando nel ringraziamento.

8 S ee to it that no one carries you off as spoil or makes you yourselves captive by his so-called philosophy and intellectualism and vain deceit (idle fancies and plain nonsense), following human tradition (men’s ideas of the material rather than the spiritual world), just crude notions following the rudimentary and elemental teachings of the universe and disregarding Christ (the Messiah).

Guardate che nessuno faccia di voi sua preda con la filosofia e con vani raggiri secondo la tradizione degli uomini e gli elementi del mondo e non secondo Cristo;

9 F or in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form.

perché in lui abita corporalmente tutta la pienezza della Deità;

10 A nd you are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life. And He is the Head of all rule and authority.

e voi avete tutto pienamente in lui, che è il capo di ogni principato e di ogni potestà;

11 I n Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, but in a circumcision Christ by stripping off the body of the flesh (the whole corrupt, carnal nature with its passions and lusts).

in lui siete anche stati circoncisi di una circoncisione non fatta da mano d’uomo, ma della circoncisione di Cristo, che consiste nello spogliamento del corpo della carne,

12 ' > you were circumcised when] you were buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him '> to a new life] through faith in the working of God '> as displayed] when He raised Him up from the dead.

essendo stati con lui sepolti nel battesimo, nel quale siete anche stati risuscitati con lui mediante la fede nella potenza di Dio che lo ha risuscitato dai morti.

13 A nd you who were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh (your sensuality, your sinful carnal nature), brought to life together with, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

Voi, che eravate morti nei peccati e nella incirconcisione della vostra carne, voi, dico, Dio ha vivificati con lui, perdonandoci tutti i peccati,

14 H aving cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to cross.

avendo cancellato il documento a noi ostile, i cui comandamenti ci condannavano, e l’ha tolto di mezzo, inchiodandolo sulla croce;

15 d isarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it.

e avendo spogliato i principati e le potestà, ne ha fatto un pubblico spettacolo, trionfando su di loro per mezzo della croce.

16 T herefore let no one sit in judgment on you in matters of food and drink, or with regard to a feast day or a New Moon or a Sabbath.

Nessuno dunque vi giudichi quanto al mangiare o al bere, o rispetto a feste, a noviluni, a sabati,

17 S uch are only the shadow of things that are to come, and they have only a symbolic value. But the reality (the substance, the solid fact of what is foreshadowed, the body of it) belongs to Christ.

che sono l’ombra di cose che dovevano avvenire; ma il corpo è di Cristo.

18 L et no one defraud you by acting as an umpire and declaring you unworthy and disqualifying you for the prize, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, vainly puffed up by his sensuous notions and inflated by his unspiritual thoughts and fleshly conceit,

Nessuno vi derubi a suo piacere del vostro premio, con un pretesto di umiltà e di culto degli angeli, affidandosi alle proprie visioni, gonfio di vanità nella sua mente carnale,

19 A nd not holding fast to the Head, from Whom the entire body, supplied and knit together by means of its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

senza attenersi al Capo, da cui tutto il corpo, ben fornito e congiunto insieme mediante le giunture e i legamenti, progredisce nella crescita voluta da Dio.

20 I f then you have died with Christ to material ways of looking at things and have escaped from the world’s crude and elemental notions and teachings of externalism, why do you live as if you still belong to the world?

Se siete morti con Cristo agli elementi del mondo, perché, come se viveste nel mondo, vi lasciate imporre dei precetti quali:

21 D o not handle, Do not taste, Do not even touch,

«Non toccare, non assaggiare, non maneggiare»

22 R eferring to things all of which perish with being used. To do this is to follow human precepts and doctrines.

(tutte cose destinate a scomparire con l’uso), secondo i comandamenti e le dottrine degli uomini?

23 S uch have indeed the outward appearance for wisdom, in promoting self-imposed rigor of devotion and delight in self-humiliation and severity of discipline of the body, but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh (the lower nature).

Quelle cose hanno, è vero, una reputazione di sapienza per quel tanto che è in esse di culto volontario, di umiltà e di austerità nel trattare il corpo, ma non hanno alcun valore; servono solo a soddisfare la carne.