1Verse 1Paul, an apostle of+Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Timothy our brother,Verse 2to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ who are in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our+Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
Verse 3We always give thanks to+the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when we pray for you,Verse 4because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and+your love for all the saints,Verse 5the faith and love that spring from the hope that is laid up for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the message of the truth of the gospelVerse 6that has come to you. This gospel has gone out into all the world, where it is bearing+fruit, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.Verse 7You learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on+your behalfVerse 8and who also told us about your love in the Spirit.
The Preeminence of Christ
Verse 9For this reason, from the day we heard this, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,Verse 10so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord with every desire to please him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;Verse 11being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience with joy;Verse 12giving thanks to+the Father, who has enabled+us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.Verse 13He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son,Verse 14in whom we have+redemption, the remission of sins.Verse 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.Verse 16For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.Verse 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.Verse 18He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in everything he may be preeminent.Verse 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,Verse 20and through him to reconcile all things to himself, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace through the blood of his cross.Verse 21At one time you were alienated from God and hostile in your minds because of your evil works. But now+God has reconciled you to himselfVerse 22through the death of Christ in his physical body,+in order to bring you into his own presence as holy, unblemished, and above reproach,Verse 23if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, without shifting away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been preached in all creation under heaven, and of this gospel I, Paul, have become a servant.
Paul's Labor for the Church
Verse 24I rejoice now in my sufferings for you, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.Verse 25I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,Verse 26the mystery that has been hidden for ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints.Verse 27To them God resolved to make known how great among the Gentiles are the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.Verse 28He is the one we proclaim, admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ+Jesus.Verse 29To this end I labor, striving according to his energy that is powerfully at work within me.