Colossians 2:8

King James Version (KJV)

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Translations

Colossians 2:8 - Amplified Bible

See 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 [the teachings of] Christ (the Messiah).

Colossians 2:8 - American Standard Version

Take heed lest there shall be any one that maketh spoil of you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ:

Colossians 2:8 - Bible in Basic English

Take care that no one takes you away by force, through man's wisdom and deceit, going after the beliefs of men and the theories of the world, and not after Christ:

Colossians 2:8 - Darby Bible

See that there be no one who shall lead *you* away as a prey through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the teaching of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ.

Colossians 2:8 - English Standard Version

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

Colossians 2:8 - King James Version

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Colossians 2:8 - La Biblia de las Americas

Mirad que nadie os haga cautivos por medio de su filosofìa y vanas sutilezas, segùn la tradiciòn de los hombres, conforme a los principios elementales del mundo y no segùn Cristo.

Colossians 2:8 - The Message

Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that’s not the way of Christ. Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You don’t need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything.

Colossians 2:8 - New American Standard Bible

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

Colossians 2:8 - Nueva Biblia Latinoamericana de Hoy

Miren que nadie los haga cautivos por medio de su filosofìa y vanas sutilezas, segùn la tradiciòn de los hombres, conforme a los principios (las normas) elementales del mundo y no segùn Cristo.

Colossians 2:8 - World English Bible

Be 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.

Colossians 2:8 - Young's Living Translation

See that no one shall be carrying you away as spoil through the philosophy and vain deceit, according to the deliverance of men, according to the rudiments of the world, and not according to Christ,

Colossians 2:8 - Additional Comments

One definition of philosophy is "Investigation of the nature, causes, or principles of reality, knowledge, or values, based on logical reasoning rather than empirical methods." Philosophy is man's attempt to figure out the world around us through logical reasoning. Unfortunately that takes you don't some dead-end roads, due to our limited understanding of our world, and the fact that, upon contemplation, no worldview is fully understandable and makes sense.
Atheism says that man is an accident, and therefore every building and every book is just an accident of nature. That doesn't make sense.
Atheism says that the universe came from nothing. That doesn't make sense.
Christianity says that everyone in the world can pray at the same time, and God hears every prayer. To me, that is hard to grasp, and I would not have derived that from just thinking about God.
Christianity says that God knows what is to come in the future. Science fiction plays with that, but truly any view outside of our current time does not make sense, and is hard to grasp.
What we need is a guidebook with the answers. And God has given this to us in the Bible.
So, when the world doesn't make sense, when it is hard to know what is real, what is truth, we need to no further than to read the Bible.
What is "empty deceit"? It is anything untrue, since it ends up as emptiness. Anything you are taught that is contrary to Scripture is wrong, it is untrue, and it winds up as emptiness, futility. Even things that follow the traditions of men, that have been taught for years. Scripture and the teachings of Jesus are the barometers of truth, and everything needs to be weighed against them.

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