¹For I desire to have you know how greatly I struggle for you, and for those at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;

¹ስለ እናንተና በሎዶቅያ ስላሉት ፊቴንም በሥጋ ስላላዩት ሁሉ እንዴት ያለ ትልቅ መጋደል እንዳለኝ ልታውቁ እወዳለሁና።

²that their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love, and gaining all riches of the full assurance of understanding, that they may know the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ,

²ልባቸው እንዲጸናና፥ በፍቅርም ተባብረው በማስተዋል ወደሚገኝበት ወደ መረዳት ባለ ጠግነት ሁሉ እንዲደርሱ የእግዚአብሔርንም ምሥጢር እርሱንም ክርስቶስን እንዲያውቁ እጋደላለሁ።

³in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden.

³የተሰወረ የጥበብና የእውቀት መዝገብ ሁሉ በእርሱ ነውና።

⁴Now this I say that no one may delude you with persuasiveness of speech.

⁴ማንም በሚያባብል ቃል እንዳያስታችሁ ይህን እላለሁ።

⁵For though I am absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

⁵በሥጋ ምንም እንኳ ብርቅ፥ በመንፈስ ከእናንተ ጋር ነኝና፥ ሥርዓታችሁንም በክርስቶስም ያለውን የእምነታችሁን ጽናት እያየሁ ደስ ይለኛል።

⁶As therefore you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, walk in him,

⁶እንግዲህ ጌታን ክርስቶስ ኢየሱስን እንደ ተቀበላችሁት በእርሱ ተመላለሱ።

⁷rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, even as you were taught, abounding in it in thanksgiving.

⁷ሥር ሰዳችሁ በእርሱ ታነጹ፥ እንደ ተማራችሁም በሃይማኖት ጽኑ፥ ምስጋናም ይብዛላችሁ።

⁸Be careful that you don’t let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ.

⁸እንደ ክርስቶስ ትምህርት ሳይሆን፥ እንደ ሰው ወግና እንደ ዓለማዊ እንደ መጀመሪያ ትምህርት ባለ በፍልስፍና በከንቱም መታለል ማንም እንዳይማርካችሁ ተጠበቁ።

⁹For in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily,

⁹በእርሱ የመለኮት ሙላት ሁሉ በሰውነት ተገልጦ ይኖራልና።

¹⁰and in him you are made full, who is the head of all principality and power;

¹⁰ለአለቅነትና ለሥልጣንም ሁሉ ራስ በሆነ በእርሱ ሆናችሁ ተሞልታችኋል።

¹¹in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;

¹¹የሥጋንም ሰውነት በመገፈፍ፥ በክርስቶስ መገረዝ፥ በእጅ ባልተደረገ መገረዝ በእርሱ ሆናችሁ ደግሞ ተገረዛችሁ።

¹²having been 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.

¹²በጥምቀትም ከእርሱ ጋር ተቀብራችሁ፥ በጥምቀት ደግሞ፥ ከሙታን ባስነሣው በእግዚአብሔር አሠራር በማመናችሁ፥ ከእርሱ ጋር ተነሣችሁ።

¹³You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,

¹³እናንተም በበደላችሁና ሥጋችሁን ባለመገረዝ ሙታን በሆናችሁ ጊዜ፥ ከእርሱ ጋር ሕይወትን ሰጣችሁ። በደላችሁን ሁሉ ይቅር አላችሁ።

¹⁴wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us; and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross;

¹⁴በእኛ ላይ የነበረውን የሚቃወመንንም በትእዛዛት የተጻፈውን የዕዳ ጽሕፈት ደመሰሰው። እርሱንም በመስቀል ጠርቆ ከመንገድ አስወግዶታል።

¹⁵having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

¹⁵አለቅነትንና ሥልጣናትን ገፎ፥ ድል በመንሣት በእርሱ እያዞራቸው በግልጥ አሳያቸው።

¹⁶Let no one therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day,

¹⁶እንግዲህ በመብል ወይም በመጠጥ ወይም ስለ በዓል ወይም ስለ ወር መባቻ ወይም ስለ ሰንበት ማንም አይፍረድባችሁ።

¹⁷which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s.

¹⁷እነዚህ ሊመጡ ያሉት ነገሮች ጥላ ናቸውና፥ አካሉ ግን የክርስቶስ ነው።

¹⁸Let no one rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility and worshipping of the angels, dwelling in the things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

¹⁸ትሕትናንና የመላእክትን አምልኮ እየወደደ፥ ባላየውም ያለ ፈቃድ እየገባ፥ በሥጋዊም አእምሮ በከንቱ እየታበየ ማንም አይፍረድባችሁ።

¹⁹and not holding firmly to the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with God’s growth.

¹⁹እንደዚህ ያለ ሰው ራስ ወደሚሆነው አይጠጋም፥ ከእርሱም አካል ሁሉ በጅማትና በማሰሪያ ምግብን እየተቀበለ እየተጋጠመም፥ እግዚአብሔር በሚሰጠው ማደግ ያድጋል።

²⁰If you died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to ordinances,

²⁰ከዓለማዊ ከመጀመሪያ ትምህርት ርቃችሁ ከክርስቶስ ጋር ከሞታችሁ፥

²¹“Don’t handle, nor taste, nor touch”

²²እንደ ሰው ሥርዓትና ትምህርት። አትያዝ፥ አትቅመስ፥ አትንካ ለሚሉት ትእዛዛት በዓለም እንደምትኖሩ ስለ ምን ትገዛላችሁ? እነዚህ ሁሉ በመደረግ ሊጠፉ ተወስነዋልና።

²²(all of which perish with use), according to the precepts and doctrines of men?

²³ይህ እንደ ገዛ ፈቃድህ በማምለክና በትሕትና ሥጋንም በመጨቆን ጥበብ ያለው ይመስላል፥ ነገር ግን ሥጋ ያለ ልክ እንዳይጠግብ ለመከልከል ምንም አይጠቅምም።

²³Which things indeed appear like wisdom in self-imposed worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but aren’t of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.