Colossians

Colossians 1

Paul to the Holy Ones in Colossae

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through God’s will, and Timothy the brother, 2 to the holy ones in Colossae and faithful brothers in Christ: Favor to you and peace from God our Father.

We Have Not Stopped Praying for You

3 We thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, always as we pray for you, 4 having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the holy ones, 5 because of the hope laid away for you in the heavens — which you heard of before in the word of the truth of the good news 6 that is present with you, just as in all the world it is bearing fruit and growing, as it is among you also, from the day you heard and came to know the favor of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow slave, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 8 the one who also made plain to us your love in the Spirit.

9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard, have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, 10 to walk worthily of the Lord, into all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work and growing by the full knowledge of God, 11 being empowered with all power according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and patience, with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who made you fit for the share of the lot of the holy ones in the light, 13 who rescued us out of the authority of darkness and moved us into the kingdom of the Son of his love, 14 in whom we have the ransoming, the forgiveness of sins:

15 who is the image of the invisible God,

firstborn of all creation,

16 because in him all things were created

in the heavens and on the earth,

the visible and the invisible,

whether thrones or lordships

or rulers or authorities —

all things have been created through him and for him.

17 And he himself is before all things,

and in him all things hold together.

18 And he himself is the head of the body, the gathering;

who is the beginning,

firstborn out of the dead,

so that in all things he himself might be first,

19 because in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell

20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself,

having made peace through the blood of his cross —

through him, whether the things on the earth or the things in the heavens.

Once Estranged, Now Reconciled

21 And you, who once were estranged and enemies in mind, in the evil works — 22 but now you were reconciled in the body of his flesh through death — to present you holy and without blemish and beyond accusation before him, 23 if indeed you remain on in the faith, founded and firm, and are not shifted away from the hope of the good news that you heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a servant.

The Secret Hidden from the Ages

24 Now I rejoice in the sufferings for your sake, and I fill up in turn what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh, for the sake of his body, which is the gathering, 25 of which I became a servant according to the household management of God given to me for you, to fill up the word of God: 26 the secret hidden away from the ages and from the generations — but now it was made plain to his holy ones, 27 to whom God wanted to make known what is the riches of the glory of this secret among the nations, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 It is he whom we announce, warning every person and teaching every person in all wisdom, so that we may present every person complete in Christ. 29 For this I also labor, struggling according to his working, which works in me in power.