Colossians 2:13–23

^13aAnd you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God ^bmade alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, ¹⁴by ^ccanceling ^dthe record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. ^15wHe disarmed the rulers and authorities² and ^eput them to open shame, by ^ftriumphing over them in him.³

Let No One Disqualify You

¹⁶Therefore let no one ^gpass judgment on you ^hin questions of food and drink, or with regard to ⁱa festival or ^ja new moon or a Sabbath. ^17kThese are a shadow of the things to come, but ^lthe substance belongs to Christ. ¹⁸Let no one ^mdisqualify you, ⁿinsisting on asceticism and worship of angels, ^ogoing on in detail about visions,^{4 p}puffed up without reason by ^qhis sensuous mind, ¹⁹and ^rnot ^sholding 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 ^tyou died to the ^uelemental spirits of the world, ^vwhy, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— ^21w“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” ²²(^xreferring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to ^yhuman precepts and teachings? ²³These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in ^zpromoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are ^aof no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.