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Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Colossians 2:14 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us; and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross;
  • BSB having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross!
  • NKJV having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
  • NASB having canceled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
  • NLT He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

God cancelled the record of debt against us and nailed it to the cross. Our condemnation was paid and removed by Christ's death.

Overview

The 'handwriting in ordinances which was against us' is the record of our guilt under God's law. God 'wiped out' this charge and took 'it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.' The legal debt that condemned us was discharged in Christ's crucifixion, leaving believers free from accusation.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 21

  • Isa 44:22I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
  • Eph 2:14–16For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
  • Isa 43:25I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
  • Heb 8:13In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
  • 1 Pet 2:24Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
  • Col 2:20Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
  • Heb 7:18For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
  • Heb 10:8–9Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
  • Heb 9:9–10Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
  • Acts 3:19Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
  • Isa 57:14And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people.
  • Gal 4:1–4Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
  • Ps 51:1Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
  • Ps 51:9Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
  • Luke 1:6And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
  • Num 5:23And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water:
  • 2 Th 2:7For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
  • Esth 8:8Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring: for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse.
  • Dan 5:7–8The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
  • Esth 3:12Then were the king’s scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king’s lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king’s ring.
  • Neh 4:5And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Colossians videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Colossians 2:14YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ColossiansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The image of the invisible God, firstborn over creation, in whom all things hold together and all the fullness of God dwells bodily — supreme over every power.

How Colossians 2:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.