So also we, when we were minors, ¹  were enslaved under the basic forces ²  of the world.

But now that you have come to know God (or rather to be known by God), how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless ¹  basic forces? ²  Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? ³ 

while waiting for and hastening ¹  the coming of the day of God? ²  Because of this day, ³  the heavens will be burned up and ⁴  dissolve, and the celestial bodies ⁵  will melt away in a blaze! ⁶ 

Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you ¹  through an empty, deceitful philosophy ²  that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits ³  of the world, and not according to Christ.

For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, ¹  you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. ²  You have gone back to needing ³  milk, not ⁴  solid food.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; when it comes, ¹  the heavens will disappear ²  with a horrific noise, ³  and the celestial bodies ⁴  will melt away ⁵  in a blaze, ⁶  and the earth and every deed done on it ⁷  will be laid bare. ⁸