Colossians 1

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2 to the saints and faithful brotherst in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and theLord 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 of Epaphras our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our 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,t the forgiveness of our sins;15 who 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, things visible and things invisible, 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 works,22 yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish 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 is being 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 whom we proclaim, 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.

Colossians 1

Thankfulness for Spiritual Attainments

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who 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 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints;5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel6 which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth;7 just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf,8 and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit.

9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy 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 His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.

The Incomparable Christ

13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things have been created through Him and for Him.17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.19 For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds,22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach-23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions.25 Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,26  that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints,27 to whom God willed 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 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.