Salutation

1Paul, apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and brother Timothy, ⁰

2to the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and Sovereign Jesus Christ. ¹

Building rapport1:3 Paul had never been in Colosse, so he needed to build rapport with strangers.

3We always give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when we pray for you

4(having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus ²and your love toward all the saints),

5because of the hope ³that is being reserved for you in the heavens, of which you have already heard through the Word of the Truth ⁴

6(the Gospel that has come to you just as also in all the world, where it is producing fruit and growing ⁵just as also among you, from the day in which you heard about and truly understood God's grace),

7even as you learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave, ⁶who is a faithful servant of Christ on your ⁷behalf,

8who also reported to us your love in spirit. ⁸

Walk worthily of the Lord

9For this very reason, since the day we heard of it, we have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the real knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,

10in order for you to walk worthily of the Lord, pleasing Him in every way, ⁹being fruitful in every good work and growing into the real knowledge of God; ¹⁰

11being enabled with all capability according to the strength that resides in His glory, ¹¹for all endurance and steadfastness. ¹²

12Nor have we stopped giving thanks joyfully to the Father who has qualified us ¹³for the share in the inheritance of the saints in the Light; ¹⁴

13who delivered us out of the dominion of the darkness ¹⁵and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,

14in whom we have the redemption through His blood, ¹⁶the forgiveness of our sins.

The supremacy of Christ described

15He is the visible representation of the invisible God, ¹⁷‘Firstborn’ over all creation, ¹⁸

16because by Him all things were created ¹⁹—those in the heavens and those on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities ²⁰—all things have been created through Him and for Him. ²¹

17Yes, He is before all, and in Him all things subsist. ²²

18Also, He is the Head of the body, the Church. He is Beginning, ²³the firstborn from among the dead, ²⁴so that He may be preeminent in everything,

19because in Him all the Fullness was pleased to dwell ²⁵

20and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, ²⁶having made peace through the blood of His cross ²⁷—through Him, whether things on the earth or things on ²⁸the heavens.

The truth applied

21So now He has reconciled you as well (you who once were alienated and hostile in your mind because of your wicked works), ²⁹

22by His physical body ³⁰through His death, so as to present you before Him holy and blameless and above reproach ³¹—

23if, that is, you continue in the Faith established and firm, not drifting away ³²from the hope of the Gospel, that you heard and that was proclaimed in all the creation under the heaven, ³³of which I, Paul, became a servant.

Present everyone perfect in Christ

24Now I rejoice in my sufferings ³⁴on your behalf and supplement in my flesh ³⁵the things lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the Church,

25of which I became a servant according to the stewardship from God that was given to me towards you, to complete the Word of God, ³⁶

26the secret ³⁷that has been hidden from past ages and generations, but now has been revealed to His saints;

27to whom God resolved to make known who is the wealth of the glory of this secret among the nations, ³⁸namely Christ in you, the hope of glory; ³⁹

28whom we proclaim, warning every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ. ⁴⁰

29It is to this end that I labor, striving according to His working that works through me with power. ⁴¹