¹² having been buried with him in baptism,^(A) in which you were also raised with him^(B) through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.^(C)

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

Freedom From Human Rules

¹⁶ Therefore do not let anyone judge you^(K) by what you eat or drink,^(L) or with regard to a religious festival,^(M) a New Moon celebration^(N) or a Sabbath day.^{(O) 17} These are a shadow of the things that were to come;^(P) the reality, however, is found in Christ. ¹⁸ Do not let anyone who delights in false humility^(Q) and the worship of angels disqualify you.^(R) 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,^(S) from whom the whole body,^(T) supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.^(U)

²⁰ Since you died with Christ^(V) to the elemental spiritual forces of this world,^(W) why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:^{(X) 21} “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”?