Colossians 1
1 I, Paul, am writing this letter. I am an apostle of Christ Jesus just as God planned. Our brother Timothy joins me in writing.
2 We are sending this letter to you, our brothers and sisters in Colosse. You belong to Christ. You are holy and faithful.
May God our Father give you grace and peace.
Paul Prays and Gives Thanks
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.4 We thank him because we have heard about your faith in Christ Jesus. We have also heard that you love all of God's people.
5 Your faith and love are based on the hope you have. What you hope for is stored up for you in heaven. You have already heard about it. You were told about it when the message of truth was given to you. I'm talking about the good news6 that has come to you.
All over the world the good news is bearing fruit and growing. It has been doing that among you since the day you heard it. That is when you understood God's grace in all its truth.
7 You learned the good news from Epaphras. He is dear to us. He serves Christ together with us. He faithfully works for Christ and for us among you.8 He also told us about your love that comes from the Holy Spirit.
9 That's why we have not stopped praying for you. We have been praying for you since the day we heard about you. We have been asking God to fill you with the knowledge of what he wants. We pray that he will give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.
10 We pray that you will lead a life that is worthy of the Lord. We pray that you will please him in every way. So we want you to bear fruit in every good thing you do. We want you to grow to know God better.11 We want you to be very strong, in keeping with his glorious power. We want you to be patient. Never give up. Be joyful12 as you give thanks to the Father.
He has made you fit to share with all his people. You will all receive a share in the kingdom of light.
13 He has saved us from the kingdom of darkness. He has brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.14 Because of what the Son has done, we have been set free. Because of him, all of our sins have been forgiven.
Christ Is Far Above Everything
15 Christ is the exact likeness of God, who can't be seen. He is first, and he is over all of creation.16 All things were created by him. He created everything in heaven and on earth. He created everything that can be seen and everything that can't be seen. He created kings, powers, rulers and authorities. Everything was created by him and for him.17 Before anything was created, he was already there. He holds everything together.
18 And he is the head of the body, which is the church. He is the beginning. He is the first to be raised from the dead. That happened so that he would be far above everything.19 God was pleased to have his whole nature living in Christ.20 God was pleased to bring all things back to himself because of what Christ has done. That includes all things on earth and in heaven. God made peace through Christ's blood, through his death on the cross.
21 At one time you were separated from God. You were enemies in your minds because of your evil ways.22 But because Christ died, God has brought you back to himself. Christ's death has made you holy in God's sight. So now you don't have any flaw. You are free from blame.
23 But you must keep your faith steady and firm. Don't move away from the hope that the good news holds out to you. It is the good news that you heard. It has been preached to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, now serve the good news.
Paul's Work for the Church
24 I am happy because of what was suffered for you. And in my body I fill up my share in Christ's sufferings. I do it for his body, which is the church.25 I serve the church. God appointed me to bring all of his word to you.
26 That word contains the mystery that has been hidden for many ages. But now it has been made known to God's people.27 God has chosen to make known to them the glorious riches of that mystery. He has made it known among those who aren't Jews. And here is what it is. Christ is in you. He is your hope of glory.
28 We preach about him. With all the wisdom we have, we warn and teach everyone. When we bring them to God, we want them to be perfect as people who belong to Christ.
29 That's what I'm working for. I work hard with all of Christ's strength. His strength works powerfully in me.
Colossians 1
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother,2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ that are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.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 ye have toward all the saints,5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel,6 which is come unto you; even as it is also in all the world bearing fruit and increasing, as it doth in you also, since the day ye heard and knew the grace of God in truth;7 even as ye learned of Epaphras our beloved fellow-servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,8 who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray and make request for you, that ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,10 to walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing, 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, unto all patience and longsuffering with joy;12 giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet 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 who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;16 for in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him;17 and he is before all things, and in him all things consist.18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.19 For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fulness dwell;20 and through him to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross; through him, I say, whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens.21 And you, being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works,22 yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before him:23 if so be that ye continue in the faith, grounded and stedfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven; whereof I Paul was made a minister.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 church;25 whereof I was made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which was given me to you-ward, to fulfil the word of God,26 even the mystery which hath been hid for ages and generations: but now hath it been manifested to his saints,27 to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:28 whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ;29 whereunto I labor also, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.