Colossians 2:9-23

English Standard Version

⁹ For ^(A)in him the whole fullness of deity dwells ^(B)bodily, ¹⁰ and ^(C)you have been filled in him, who is ^(D)the head of all rule and authority. ¹¹ In him also ^(E)you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by ^(F)putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, ^12 (G)having been buried with him in baptism, in which ^(H)you were also raised with him through faith in ^(I)the powerful working of God, ^(J)who raised him from the dead. ^13 (K)And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God ^(L)made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, ¹⁴ by ^(M)canceling ^(N)the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. ^15 (O)He disarmed the rulers and authorities^[a] and ^(P)put them to open shame, by ^(Q)triumphing over them in him.^[b]

Let No One Disqualify You

¹⁶ Therefore let no one ^(R)pass judgment on you ^(S)in questions of food and drink, or with regard to ^(T)a festival or ^(U)a new moon or a Sabbath. ^17 (V)These are a shadow of the things to come, but ^(W)the substance belongs to Christ. ¹⁸ Let no one ^(X)disqualify you, ^(Y)insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, ^(Z)going on in detail about visions,^{[c] (AA)}puffed up without reason by ^(AB)his sensuous mind, ¹⁹ and ^(AC)not ^(AD)holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

²⁰ If with Christ ^(AE)you died to the ^(AF)elemental spirits of the world, ^(AG)why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— ^21 (AH)“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” ²² (^(AI)referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to ^(AJ)human precepts and teachings? ²³ These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in ^(AK)promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are ^(AL)of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.