1Paul, an apostle1 of Christ Jesus by the will of God,2 and Timothy3 our brother,
2To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sistersa in Christ: Grace1 and peace to you from God our Father.b2
3We always thank God,1 the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
4because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love1 you have for all God’s people2 —
5the faith and love that spring from the hope1 stored up for you in heaven2 and about which you have already heard in the true message3 of the gospel
6that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit1 and growing throughout the whole world2 —just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.
7You learned it from Epaphras,1 our dear fellow servant,a who is a faithful minister2 of Christ on ourb behalf,
8and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.1
9For this reason, since the day we heard about you,1 we have not stopped praying for you.2 We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will3 through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,a4
10so that you may live a life worthy1 of the Lord and please him2 in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,3
11being strengthened with all power1 according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,2
12and giving joyful thanks to the Father,1 who has qualified youa to share in the inheritance2 of his holy people in the kingdom of light.3
13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness1 and brought us into the kingdom2 of the Son he loves,3
14in whom we have redemption,1 the forgiveness of sins.2
15The Son is the image1 of the invisible God,2 the firstborn3 over all creation.
16For in him all things were created:1 things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;2 all things have been created through him and for him.3
17He is before all things,1 and in him all things hold together.
18And he is the head1 of the body, the church;2 he is the beginning and the firstborn3 from among the dead,4 so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
19For God was pleased1 to have all his fullness2 dwell in him,
20and through him to reconcile1 to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven,2 by making peace3 through his blood,4 shed on the cross.
21Once you were alienated from God and were enemies1 in your minds2 because ofa your evil behavior.
22But now he has reconciled1 you by Christ’s physical body2 through death to present you3 holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation4 —
23if you continue1 in your faith, established2 and firm, and do not move from the hope3 held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven,4 and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.5
24Now I rejoice1 in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions,2 for the sake of his body, which is the church.3
25I have become its servant1 by the commission God gave me2 to present to you the word of God3 in its fullness—
26the mystery1 that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people.
27To them God has chosen to make known1 among the Gentiles the glorious riches2 of this mystery, which is Christ in you,3 the hope of glory.
28He is the one we proclaim, admonishing1 and teaching everyone with all wisdom,2 so that we may present everyone fully mature3 in Christ.
29To this end I strenuously1 contend2 with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.3