Colossians 2:13-23

English Standard Version

^13 (A)And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God ^(B)made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, ¹⁴ by ^(C)canceling ^(D)the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. ^15 (E)He disarmed the rulers and authorities^[a] and ^(F)put them to open shame, by ^(G)triumphing over them in him.^[b]

Let No One Disqualify You

¹⁶ Therefore let no one ^(H)pass judgment on you ^(I)in questions of food and drink, or with regard to ^(J)a festival or ^(K)a new moon or a Sabbath. ^17 (L)These are a shadow of the things to come, but ^(M)the substance belongs to Christ. ¹⁸ Let no one ^(N)disqualify you, ^(O)insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, ^(P)going on in detail about visions,^{[c] (Q)}puffed up without reason by ^(R)his sensuous mind, ¹⁹ and ^(S)not ^(T)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 ^(U)you died to the ^(V)elemental spirits of the world, ^(W)why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— ^21 (X)“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” ²² (^(Y)referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to ^(Z)human precepts and teachings? ²³ These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in ^(AA)promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are ^(AB)of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.