The Death of Nadab and Abihu

10 Now ^(A)Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, ^(B)each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered ^(C)unauthorized^[a] fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. ² And fire ^(D)came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.

^4 (A)Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; ^(B)and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, ^5 (C)and have built the high places of Baal ^(D)to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, ^(E)which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind—

¹⁸ Let no one ^(A)disqualify you, ^(B)insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, ^(C)going on in detail about visions,^{[a] (D)}puffed up without reason by ^(E)his sensuous mind, ¹⁹ and ^(F)not ^(G)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 ^(H)you died to the ^(I)elemental spirits of the world, ^(J)why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— ^21 (K)“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” ²² (^(L)referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to ^(M)human precepts and teachings? ²³ These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in ^(N)promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are ^(O)of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.