First ReadingColossians 2:6-15
From the Letter of Paul to the Colossians
6As therefore you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him,7rooted and built up in him and established in the faith,even as you were taught,abounding in it in thanksgiving.
8Be careful that you don’t let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit,after the tradition of men,after the elemental spirits of the world,and not after Christ.9For in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily,10and in him you are made full,who is the head of all principality and power.11In him 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,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.13You were dead through your trespassesand the uncircumcision of your flesh.He made you alive together with him,having forgiven us all our trespasses,14wiping out the handwriting in ordinanceswhich was against us.He has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.15Having stripped the principalities and the powers,he made a show of them openly,triumphing over them in it.