Colossians 1

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

²To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

³We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

⁴because we have heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints—

⁵the faith and love proceeding from the hope stored up for you in heaven, of which you have already heard in the word of truth, the gospel

⁶that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood the grace of God.

⁷You learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,

⁸and who also informed us of your love in the Spirit.

⁹For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

¹⁰so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

¹¹being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully

¹²giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

¹³He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son,

¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

¹⁵The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

¹⁶For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him.

¹⁷He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

¹⁸And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.

¹⁹For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him,

²⁰and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.

²¹Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds.

²²But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence—

²³if indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

²⁴Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the church.

²⁵I became its servant by the commission God gave me to fully proclaim to you the word of God,

²⁶the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations but is now revealed to His saints.

²⁷To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

²⁸We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.

²⁹To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.

Colossians 1

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

²to the saints in Colossae, and to the faithful brethren in Christ: Grace to you, and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ!

³We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, always praying for you,

⁴having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love that is to all the saints,

⁵because of the hope that is laid up for you in the heavens, which ye heard of before in the word of the truth of the good news,

⁶which is present to you, as also in all the world, and is bearing fruit, as also in you, from the day in which ye heard, and knew the grace of God in truth;

⁷as ye also learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow-servant, who is for you a faithful ministrant of the Christ,

⁸who also did declare to us your love in the Spirit.

⁹Because of this, we also, from the day in which we heard, do not cease praying for you, and asking that ye may be filled with the full knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,

¹⁰to your walking worthily of the Lord to all pleasing, in every good work being fruitful, and increasing to the knowledge of God,

¹¹in all might being made mighty according to the power of His glory, to all endurance and long-suffering with joy.

¹²Giving thanks to the Father who did make us meet for the participation of the inheritance of the saints in the light,

¹³who did rescue us out of the authority of the darkness, and did translate us into the reign of the Son of His love,

¹⁴in whom we have the redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of the sins,

¹⁵who is the image of the invisible God, first-born of all creation,

¹⁶because in him were the all things created, those in the heavens, and those upon the earth, those visible, and those invisible, whether thrones, whether lordships, whether principalities, whether authorities; all things through him, and for him, have been created,

¹⁷and himself is before all, and the all things in him have consisted.

¹⁸And himself is the head of the bodythe assemblywho is a beginning, a first-born out of the dead, that he might become in all things himselffirst,

¹⁹because in him it did please all the fulness to tabernacle,

²⁰and through him to reconcile the all things to himselfhaving made peace through the blood of his crossthrough him, whether the things upon the earth, whether the things in the heavens.

²¹And youonce being alienated, and enemies in the mind, in the evil works, yet now did he reconcile,

²²in the body of his flesh through the death, to present you holy, and unblemished, and unblameable before himself,

²³if also ye remain in the faith, being founded and settled, and not moved away from the hope of the good news, which ye heard, which was preached in all the creation that is under the heaven, of which I becameI Paula ministrant.

²⁴I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and do fill up the things lacking of the tribulations of the Christ in my flesh for his body, which is the assembly,

²⁵of which II did become a ministrant according to the dispensation of God, that was given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God,

²⁶the secret that hath been hid from the ages and from the generations, but now was manifested to his saints,

²⁷to whom God did will to make known what is the riches of the glory of this secret among the nationswhich is Christ in you, the hope of the glory,

²⁸whom we proclaim, warning every man, and teaching every man, in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus,

²⁹for which also I labour, striving according to his working that is working in me in power.