1This letter comes from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the will of God, and from our brother Timothy.

2To the believers and trusting Christians at Colossae: May you have grace and peace from God our Father.

3We are always thankful to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for you, and pray for you.

4We've heard about your trust in Christ Jesus and your love for all the believers

5because of the hope prepared for you in heaven. You already heard about this in the good news, the message of truth

6that came to you just as it has gone throughout the whole world, spreading widely and bringing results. It's done the same for you too, ever since you heard it and realized the true nature of God's grace.

7Our dear friend and fellow-worker Epaphras, who is a trustworthy minister of Christ on our behalf, taught you about this.

8He's also made clear to us your love in the Spirit.

9Because of this we haven't stopped praying for you from the time we heard about you, asking God to give you understanding of what he wants you to do and to give you every kind of spiritual wisdom and understanding.

10That way you'll live lives that rightly represent the Lord and please him, producing all kinds of good results and gaining greater knowledge of God.

11May you be made powerfully strong by his wonderful strength, having great patience and endurance.

12May you happily praise the Father, who has made it possible for us to share in the inheritance of God's people who live in the light.

13He rescued us from the tyranny of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,

14through whom we have been set free and our sins forgiven.

15The Son is the visible image of the invisible God. He was before ⁰all creation,

16for everything was created through him—in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, empires, rulers, leaders and authorities—everything was created through him and for him.

17He existed before everything, and he holds everything together.

18He is also the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, having the highest position ¹of those raised from the dead, so that he is supreme in everything.

19God was pleased to have his full nature live in him,

20and through him brought back everything in the universe to himself, since he made peace through the blood of his cross, through him reconciling all those on the earth and in heaven. ²

21You once were alienated from God, enemies in the way you thought and the way you acted,

22but now he has reconciled you through his dying human body, bringing you into his presence where you stand holy, pure, and faultless.

23But your trust in him must continue rock-solid and immovable. Don't be shaken from the hope of the good news that you heard, the good news that's been shared throughout the world—that's the work that I Paul have been doing.

24I'm happy to have trouble for your sake, for by means of what happens to me physically I'm part of Christ's sufferings that he continues to experience for the sake of his body, the church.

25I serve the church following the direction God gave me about you, to present fully the word of God to you.

26This is the mystery that was hidden down through the ages and for many generations, but it's now been revealed to God's people.

27God wanted to make known to them the glorious wealth of this mystery to the nations: ³Christ living in you is the glorious hope!

28We're telling everyone about him, instructing and teaching them in the best way we know how so that we can bring everyone before God fully mature in Christ.

29That's what I'm working for too, making every effort as I rely on his strength which is powerfully at work in me.