¹¹ In him you were also circumcised^(A) with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh^[a](B) was put off when you were circumcised by^[b] Christ, ¹² having been buried with him in baptism,^(C) in which you were also raised with him^(D) through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.^(E)

¹³ When you were dead in your sins^(F) and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you^[c] alive^(G) with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,^{(H) 14} having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness,^(I) which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.^{(J) 15} And having disarmed the powers and authorities,^(K) he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them^(L) by the cross.^[d]

Freedom From Human Rules

¹⁶ Therefore do not let anyone judge you^(M) by what you eat or drink,^(N) or with regard to a religious festival,^(O) a New Moon celebration^(P) or a Sabbath day.^{(Q) 17} These are a shadow of the things that were to come;^(R) the reality, however, is found in Christ. ¹⁸ Do not let anyone who delights in false humility^(S) and the worship of angels disqualify you.^(T) Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. ¹⁹ They have lost connection with the head,^(U) from whom the whole body,^(V) supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.^(W)

²⁰ Since you died with Christ^(X) to the elemental spiritual forces of this world,^(Y) why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:^{(Z) 21} “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? ²² These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish^(AA) with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.^{(AB) 23} Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility^(AC) and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.