Greeting

1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will,a and Timothyb our brother:

2To the saints in Christ at Colossae, who are faithful brothers and sisters.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father.A

Thanksgiving

3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints 5because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the word of truth,a the gospel 6that has come to you. It is bearing fruita and growing all over the world,b just as it has among you since the day you heard it and came to truly appreciatec God’s grace.a d 7You learned this from Epaphras,a our dearly loved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christb on yourA behalf, 8and he has told us about your love in the Spirit.a

Prayer for Spiritual Growth

9For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are askinga that you may be filled with the knowledgeb of his willc in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,A 10so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good worka and growing in the knowledge of God,b 11being strengtheneda with all power,b according to his gloriousc might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled youA to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.a 13He has rescueda us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdomb of the Sonc he loves.d 14In him we have redemption,A the forgiveness of sins.

The Centrality of Christ

15He is the image of the invisible God,a

the firstborn over all creation.b

16For everything was created by him,a

in heaven and on earth,

the visible and the invisible,

whether thrones or dominions

or rulers or authorities —

all things have been created through him and for him.b

17He is before all things,a

and by him all thingsb hold together.

18He is also the head of the body, the church;

he is the beginning,a

the firstborn from the dead,b

so that he might come to have

first place in everything.

19For God was pleased to have

all his fullnessa dwell in him,b

20and through him to reconcile

everything to himself,

whether things on earth or things in heaven,

by making peacea

through his blood,b shed on the cross.a c

21Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds as expressed in your evil actions. 22But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death,a to present you holy, faultless,b and blameless before himc —  23if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faitha and are not shifted away from the hopeb of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creationc under heaven,d and I, Paul,e have become a servant of it.

Paul’s Ministry

24Now I rejoice in my sufferingsa for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for his body,b that is, the church. 25I have become its servant, according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christa in you, the hopeb of glory. 28We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29I labor for this, strivinga with his strength that works powerfully in me.b