^aPaul, ^ban apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed) ^cby the will of God, and ^dTimothy our brother,

2 To the ^1asaints and faithful ²believers in Christ who are at Colossae: ^bGrace to you and peace inner calm and spiritual well-being from God our Father.

3 ^aWe give thanks to God, ^bthe Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we pray always for you, 4 ^afor we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus how you lean on Him with absolute confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness, and of the unselfish ^1blove which you have for ^call the saints (God’s people) ; 5 because of the confident ^ahope of experiencing that ^bwhich is reserved and waiting for you in heaven. You previously ^cheard of this hope in the message of truth, the gospel regarding salvation 6 which has come to you. Indeed, just as ^ain the whole world the gospel is constantly bearing ^bfruit and spreading by God’s power, just as it has been doing among you ever since the day you first ^cheard of it and understood the grace of God in truth becoming thoroughly and deeply acquainted with it. 7 You learned it from our representative ^aEpaphras, our ^bbeloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf 8 and he also has told us of your ^alove well-grounded and nurtured in the Holy Spirit.

9 For this reason, ^asince the day we heard about it, ^bwe have not stopped praying for you, asking specifically that you may be filled with the ^cknowledge of His will in all spiritual ^dwisdom with insight into His purposes, and in understanding of spiritual things, 10 so that you will ^awalk in a manner worthy of the Lord displaying admirable character, moral courage, and personal integrity, ^bto fully please Him in all things, ^cbearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing in the knowledge of God with deeper faith, clearer insight and fervent love for His precepts; 11 we pray that you may be ^astrengthened and invigorated with all power, according to His glorious might, to attain every kind of endurance and patience ^bwith joy; 12 giving thanks to ^athe Father, who has qualified us to share in ^bthe inheritance of the saints (God’s people) in the ^cLight.

13 For He has rescued us and has drawn us to Himself from the ^adominion of darkness, and has transferred us to the kingdom of ^bHis beloved Son, 14 ^ain whom we have redemption because of His sacrifice, resulting in the forgiveness of our sins and the cancellation of sins’ penalty.

15 He is the ^aexact living image the essential manifestation of the ^bunseen God the visible representation of the invisible, the ^cfirstborn the preeminent one, the sovereign, and the originator of all creation. 16 For ^1aby Him all things were created ^bin heaven and on earth, things visible and invisible, whether ^cthrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; ^dall things were created and exist through Him that is, by His activity and for Him. 17 And He Himself ^aexisted and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. His is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe. Prov 8:22-31 18 He is also the ^ahead the life-source and leader of ^bthe body, the ¹church; and He is ^cthe beginning, ^2dthe firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will occupy the first place He will stand supreme and be preeminent in everything. 1+@Cor 15:20 19 For it pleased ^athe Father for all ^bthe fullness of deity—the sum total of His essence, all His perfection, powers, and attributes to dwell permanently in Him (the Son) , 20 and through the intervention of the Son to ^areconcile all things to Himself, making ^bpeace with believers through ^cthe blood of His cross; through Him, I say, ^dwhether things on earth or things in heaven.

21 And although you were ^aat one time estranged and alienated and hostile-minded toward Him, participating in evil things, 22 yet Christ has now ^areconciled you to God in His ¹physical ^bbody through death, in order to ^cpresent you before the Father ^dholy and blameless and beyond reproach— 23 and He will do this if you continue in the faith, ^awell-grounded and steadfast, and not shifting away from the confident ^bhope that is a result of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed ^1cin all creation under heaven, ^dand of which gospel I, Paul, was made a ^eminister.

24 ^aNow I rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf. And with my own body ^bI ¹supplement whatever is lacking on our part of Christ’s afflictions, on behalf of ^cHis body, which is the church. 25 ^aIn this church I was made a minister according to the ^bstewardship which God entrusted to me for your sake, so that I might make the word of God fully known among you— 26 that is, ^1athe mystery which was hidden from angels and mankind for ages and generations, but has now been revealed to His saints (God’s people) . 27 ^aGod in His eternal plan chose to make known to them how great for the Gentiles are ^bthe riches of the glory of this mystery, which is ^cChrist in and among you, the ^dhope and guarantee of realizing the glory. 28 We proclaim Him, ^awarning and instructing everyone in all ^bwisdom that is, with comprehensive insight into the word and purposes of God, so that we may ^cpresent every person ^dcomplete in Christ mature, fully trained, and perfect in Him—the Anointed. 29 For this I ^alabor often to the point of exhaustion, ^bstriving ^cwith His power and energy, which so greatly works within me.