Colossians 1
1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother,
2to the holy and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who are in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
3We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
4since we heard of your trust in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the holy ones
5because of the hope that is being stored up for you in heaven, which you have already heard about in the message of truth—the good news
6that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it is also doing that among you from the day you heard it and understood the grace of God for what it truly is.
7You learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,
8who also told us about your love in connection with the spirit.
9Because of this, from the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking for you to be filled with the knowledge of his will along with all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
10so that you walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God,
11being empowered with all power by means of his glorious might, so that you will have all endurance and patience,
12and giving thanks with joy to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in the kingdom of light.
13He rescued us from the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son,
14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation,
16because in connection with him all things were created 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,
17and he is above all things, and in connection with him all things are held together.
18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead, so that he would come to have first place in everything.
19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
20and through him God was pleased to reconcile all things to Himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood that was shed on the cross.
21And you were once alienated from God and hostile in your attitude, as shown by your evil works.
22But now He has reconciled you by his physical body through his death to present you holy and without blemish and blameless in His presence—
23if indeed you continue in the faith, established and steadfast and not moving away from the hope of the good news that you heard, which was preached to all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
24Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I am taking my turn to fill up what is lacking in regard to the afflictions of Christ for the sake of his body, which is the church,
25of which I became a minister in accordance with the administration of God that was given to me for you, in order to make fully known the word of God—
26the sacred secret—that has been hidden for ages and generations, but now has been revealed to his holy ones.
27God wanted to make known among the Gentiles what are the riches of the glory of this sacred secret, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28We proclaim him, admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we can present everyone mature in Christ.
29And I am laboring for that goal, striving with His strength, which works powerfully in me.