Absent in Body, Present in Spirit (Revelation 3:14–22)
1 DBY For I would have you know what combat I have for you, and those in Laodicea, and as many as have not seen my face in flesh; BSB BSB: For I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me face to face,
2 DBY to the end that their hearts may be encouraged, being united together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the full knowledge of the mystery of God; BSB BSB: that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ,
3 DBY in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge. BSB BSB: in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 DBY And I say this to the end that no one may delude you by persuasive speech. BSB BSB: I say this so that no one will deceive you by smooth rhetoric.
5 DBY For if indeed in the flesh I am absent, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order, and the firmness of your faith in Christ. BSB BSB: For although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I delight to see your orderly condition and firm faith in Christ.
Alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:1–10)
6 DBY As therefore ye have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in him, BSB BSB: Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in Him,
7 DBY rooted and built up in him, and assured in the faith, even as ye have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. BSB BSB: rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
9 DBY For in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily; BSB BSB: For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.
10 DBY and ye are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and authority, BSB BSB: And you have been made complete in Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
11 DBY in whom also ye have been circumcised with circumcision not done by hand, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of the Christ; BSB BSB: In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands.
12 DBY buried with him in baptism, in which ye have been also raised with him through faith of the working of God who raised him from among the dead. BSB BSB: And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.
13 DBY And you, being dead in offences and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has quickened together with him, having forgiven us all the offences; BSB BSB: When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses,
14 DBY having effaced the handwriting in ordinances which stood out against us, which was contrary to us, he has taken it also out of the way, having nailed it to the cross; BSB BSB: having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross!
17 DBY which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. BSB BSB: These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Christ.
18 DBY Let no one fraudulently deprive you of your prize, doing his own will in humility and worship of angels, entering into things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by the mind of his flesh, BSB BSB: Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you with speculation about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up without basis by his unspiritual mind.
19 DBY and not holding fast the head, from whom all the body, ministered to and united together by the joints and bands, increases with the increase of God. BSB BSB: He has lost connection to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God causes it to grow.
20 DBY If ye have died with Christ from the elements of the world, why as if alive in the world do ye subject yourselves to ordinances? BSB BSB: If you have died with Christ to the spiritual forces of the world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its regulations:
21 DBY Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, BSB BSB: “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”?
22 DBY (things which are all for destruction in the using of them :) according to the injunctions and teachings of men, BSB BSB: These will all perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.
23 DBY (which have indeed an appearance of wisdom in voluntary worship, and humility, and harsh treatment of the body, not in a certain honour,) to the satisfaction of the flesh. BSB BSB: Such restrictions indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-prescribed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body; but they are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.