Colossians 2:11-23

English Standard Version

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

Let No One Disqualify You

¹⁶Therefore let no one ^(N)pass judgment on you ^(O)in questions of food and drink, or with regard to ^(P)a festival or ^(Q)a new moon or a Sabbath. ¹⁷^(R)These are a shadow of the things to come, but ^(S)the substance belongs to Christ. ¹⁸Let no one ^(T)disqualify you, ^(U)insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, ^(V)going on in detail about visions,^[c] ^(W)puffed up without reason by ^(X)his sensuous mind, ¹⁹and ^(Y)not ^(Z)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.

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