Colossians 2:16-23

Tree of Life Version

The Danger of False Wisdom

¹⁶ Therefore, do not let anyone pass judgment on you in matters of food or drink, or in respect to a festival or new moon or Shabbat. ^{[a] 17} These are a foreshadowing of things to come, but the reality is Messiah. ^{[b] 18} Let no one disqualify you by insisting on false humility and worship of angels—going into detail about what he has seen, puffed up without cause by his fleshly mind. ¹⁹ He is not holding fast to the Head. It is from Him that the whole body, nourished and held together by its joints and tendons, grows with a godly increase. ²⁰ If you died with Messiah to the basic principles of the world, why—as though living in the world—do you subject yourselves to their rules? ²¹ “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!” ²² These all lead to decay with use, based as they are on man-made commands and teachings. ^{[c] 23} Indeed, these are matters that have an appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and humility and self-denial of the body—yet none are of any value for stopping indulgence of the flesh.