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Colossians 2:16-23
New American Standard Bible 1995
Colossians 2:16-23
New American Standard Bible 1995
16 Therefore no one is to [a](A)act as your judge in regard to (B)food or (C)drink or in respect to a (D)festival or a (E)new moon or a (F)Sabbath [b]day— 17 things which are (G)a mere shadow of what is to come; but the [c]substance [d]belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one keep [e](H)defrauding you of your prize by (I)delighting in [f]self-abasement and the worship of the angels, [g]taking his stand on visions he has seen, [h](J)inflated without cause by his (K)fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to (L)the head, from whom (M)the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and [i]ligaments, grows with a growth [j]which is from God.
20 (N)If you have died with Christ [k]to the (O)elementary principles of the world, (P)why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to (Q)decrees, such as, 21 “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” 22 (which all refer (R)to things destined to perish [l]with use)—in accordance with the (S)commandments and teachings of men? 23 These are matters which have, to be sure, the [m]appearance of wisdom in [n](T)self-made religion and self-abasement and (U)severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against (V)fleshly indulgence.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Colossians 2:16 Lit judge you
- Colossians 2:16 Or days
- Colossians 2:17 Lit body
- Colossians 2:17 Lit of Christ
- Colossians 2:18 Or deciding against you
- Colossians 2:18 Or humility
- Colossians 2:18 Or going into detail about
- Colossians 2:18 Or conceited
- Colossians 2:19 Lit bonds
- Colossians 2:19 Lit of God
- Colossians 2:20 Lit from
- Colossians 2:22 Or by being consumed
- Colossians 2:23 Lit report; Gr logos
- Colossians 2:23 Or would-be religion
Colossians 2:16-23
New International Version
Colossians 2:16-23
New International Version
Freedom From Human Rules
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you(A) by what you eat or drink,(B) or with regard to a religious festival,(C) a New Moon celebration(D) or a Sabbath day.(E) 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come;(F) the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility(G) and the worship of angels disqualify you.(H) 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,(I) from whom the whole body,(J) supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.(K)
20 Since you died with Christ(L) to the elemental spiritual forces of this world,(M) why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:(N) 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(O) with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.(P) 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility(Q) and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.