Paul’s Letter to the Colossians
1
1 Paul,
an apostle of Christ
Jesus through the
will of God,
and Timothy
our brother,
2 to
the saints and
faithful brothers
in Christ at
Colossae: Grace to
you and peace
from God our
Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We
give thanks to
God the Father
of our Lord
Jesus Christ,
praying always for
you,
4 having heard
of your faith
in Christ Jesus
and of the love
which you have
toward all
the saints,
5 because
of the hope
which is laid up
for you in
the heavens, of
which you heard
before in the
word of the truth
of the Good
News
6 which
has come to
you, even as
it is in
all the world
and is bearing
fruit and growing,
as it does
in you also, since
the day you heard
and knew the
grace of God
in truth,
7 even
as you learned
from Epaphras
our beloved fellow
servant, who is
a faithful servant
of Christ on
your
behalf,
8 who
also declared to
us your love in
the Spirit.
9 For
this cause, we
also, since the
day we heard this,
don’t cease
praying and
making requests for
you, that you
may be filled
with the knowledge
of his will
in all spiritual
wisdom and
understanding,
10 that
you may
walk worthily of
the Lord, to please
him in all
respects, bearing
fruit in every
good work
and increasing in
the knowledge of
God,
11 strengthened with
all power,
according to the
might of his
glory, for all
endurance and
perseverance with
joy,
12 giving
thanks to the
Father, who made
us fit to be
partakers of the
inheritance of
the saints in
light,
13 who
delivered us out
of the power
of darkness, and
translated us into
the Kingdom of the
Son of his love,
14 in
whom we have
our redemption,
the forgiveness of
our sins.
15 He
is the image
of the invisible
God, the firstborn
of all creation.
16 For
by him all
things were
created in the
heavens and on
the earth, visible
things and invisible
things, whether
thrones or
dominions or principalities
or powers. All
things have been
created through
him and for
him.
17 He
is before all
things, and in
him all things
are held together.
18 He
is the head
of the body,
the assembly, who
is the beginning,
the firstborn from
the dead, that
in all things
he might have
the preeminence.
19 For
all the fullness
was pleased to
dwell in him,
20 and
through him
to reconcile all
things to himself
by him, whether
things on the
earth or things
in the heavens,
having made peace
through the blood
of his cross.
21 You,
being in past
times alienated and
enemies in your
mind in your
evil deeds,
22 yet
now he
has reconciled in
the body of
his flesh through
death, to present
you holy and
without defect and blameless
before him,
23 if
it is so
that you continue
in the faith,
grounded and
steadfast, and not
moved away from
the hope of
the Good News
which you heard,
which was
proclaimed in all
creation under
heaven, of which
I, Paul, was
made a servant.
24 Now
I rejoice in
my sufferings for
your sake, and
fill up on
my part that
which is lacking
of the afflictions
of Christ in
my flesh for
his body’s sake,
which is the
assembly,
25 of
which I was
made a servant
according to the
stewardship of God
which was given
me toward you
to fulfill the
word of God,
26 the
mystery which has
been hidden for
ages and
generations. But
now it has
been revealed to
his saints,
27 to
whom God
was pleased to
make known what
are the riches
of the glory
of this mystery
among the Gentiles,
which is Christ
in you, the
hope of glory.
28 We
proclaim him,
admonishing every
man and teaching
every man in
all wisdom, that
we may present
every man perfect
in Christ Jesus;
29 for
which I also
labor, striving according
to his working,
which works in
me mightily.