Colossians 2:14-23

English Standard Version

¹⁴ by ^(A)canceling ^(B)the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. ^15 (C)He disarmed the rulers and authorities^[a] and ^(D)put them to open shame, by ^(E)triumphing over them in him.^[b]

Let No One Disqualify You

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