^aPaul, ^ban apostle of Jesus Christ ^1cby the will of God, and ^dTimothy ²our brother,

2 To the ^1asaints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: ^bGrace to you and peace from God our Father.

3 ^aWe give thanks to God, ^bthe Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 ^asince we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the ^blove which you have ¹for ^call the ²saints; 5 because of the ^ahope ^blaid up for you in ¹heaven, of which you previously ^cheard in the word of truth, ²the gospel 6 which has come to you, just as ^1ain all the world also it is constantly bearing ^bfruit and ²increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you ^cheard of it and ³understood the grace of God in truth; 7 just as you learned it from ^aEpaphras, our ^bbeloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 8 and he also informed us of your ^alove in the Spirit.

9 For this reason also, ^asince the day we heard of it, ^bwe have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the ^1cknowledge of His will in all spiritual ^dwisdom and understanding, 10 so that you will ^awalk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ^1bto please Him in all respects, ^cbearing fruit in every good work and ²increasing in the ³knowledge of God; 11 ^astrengthened with all power, according to ¹His glorious might, ²for the attaining of all steadfastness and ³patience; ^bjoyously 12 giving thanks to ^athe Father, who has qualified us ¹to share in ^bthe inheritance of the ²saints in ^cLight.

13 ¹For He rescued us from the ^2adomain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of ^3bHis beloved Son, 14 ^ain whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

15 ¹He is the ^aimage of the ^binvisible God, the ^cfirstborn of all creation. 16 For ^1aby Him all things were created, ^bboth in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether ^cthrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—^dall things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He ^1ais before all things, and in Him all things ²hold together. 18 He is also ^ahead of ^bthe body, the church; and He is ^cthe beginning, ^dthe firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19 For ¹it was ^athe Father’s good pleasure for all ^bthe ²fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to ^areconcile all things to Himself, having made ^bpeace through ^cthe blood of His cross; through Him, I say, ^dwhether things on earth or things in ¹heaven.

21 And although you were ^aformerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now ^areconciled you in His fleshly ^bbody through death, in order to ^cpresent you before Him ^dholy and blameless and beyond reproach— 23 if indeed you continue in ¹the faith firmly ^aestablished and steadfast, and not moved away from the ^bhope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed ^cin all creation under heaven, ^dand of which I, Paul, ²was made a ^3eminister.

24 ^aNow I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh ^bI ¹do my share on behalf of ^cHis body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking ²in Christ’s afflictions. 25 ^aOf this church I ¹was made a minister according to the ^bstewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might ²fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, ^athe mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His ¹saints, 27 to whom ^aGod willed to make known what is ^bthe riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is ^cChrist in you, the ^dhope of glory. 28 We proclaim Him, ^aadmonishing every man and teaching every man ¹with all ^bwisdom, so that we may ^cpresent every man ^2dcomplete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I ^alabor, ^bstriving ^caccording to His ¹power, which ²mightily works within me.

^aPaul, ^ban apostle of Christ Jesus ^1cby the will of God, and ^dTimothy ²our brother,

2 To the ^1asaints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who are at Colossae: ^bGrace to you and peace from God our Father.

3 ^aWe ¹give thanks to God, ^bthe Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 ^asince we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the ^blove which you have ¹for ^call the ²saints; 5 because of the ^ahope ^breserved for you in ¹heaven, of which you previously ^cheard in the word of truth, ²the gospel 6 which has come to you, just as ^1ain all the world also it is bearing ^bfruit and ²increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you ^cheard it and ³understood the grace of God in truth; 7 just as you learned it from ^aEpaphras, our ^bbeloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 8 and he also informed us of your ^alove in the Spirit.

9 For this reason we also, ^asince the day we heard about it, ^bhave not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the ^1cknowledge of His will in all spiritual ^dwisdom and understanding, 10 so that you will ^awalk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ^1bto please Him in all respects, ^cbearing fruit in every good work and ²increasing in the ³knowledge of God; 11 ^astrengthened with all power, according to ¹His glorious might, ²for the attaining of all perseverance and ³patience; ^bjoyously 12 giving thanks to ^athe Father, who has qualified you ¹to share in ^bthe inheritance of the ²saints in ^clight.

13 ¹For He rescued us from the ^2adomain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of ^3bHis beloved Son, 14 ^ain whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

15 ¹He is the ^aimage of the ^binvisible God, the ^cfirstborn of all creation: 16 for ^1aby Him all things were created, ^bboth in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether ^cthrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—^dall things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He ^1ais before all things, and in Him all things ²hold together. 18 He is also the ^ahead of ^bthe body, the church; and He is ^cthe beginning, ^dthe firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19 For ¹it was ^athe Father’s good pleasure for all ^bthe ²fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to ^areconcile all things to Himself, ^bwhether things on earth or things in ¹heaven, having made ^cpeace through ^dthe blood of His cross.

21 And although you were ^apreviously alienated and hostile in attitude, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now ^areconciled you in His ^bbody of flesh through death, in order to ^cpresent you before Him ^dholy and blameless and beyond reproach— 23 if indeed you continue in ¹the faith firmly ^aestablished and steadfast, and not shifting from the ^bhope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed ^cin all creation under heaven, ^dand of which I, Paul, ²was made a ^3eminister.

24 ^aNow I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh ^bI am supplementing what is lacking ¹in Christ’s afflictions in behalf of ^cHis body, which is the church. 25 ^aI ¹was made a minister of this church according to the ^bcommission from God granted to me for your benefit, so that I might ²fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, ^athe mystery which had been hidden from the past ages and generations, but now has been revealed to His ¹saints, 27 to whom ^aGod willed to make known what ^bthe wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles is, the mystery that is ^cChrist in you, the ^dhope of glory. 28 We proclaim Him, ^aadmonishing every person and teaching every person ¹with all ^bwisdom, so that we may ^cpresent every person ^2dcomplete in Christ. 29 For this purpose I also ^alabor, ^bstriving ^caccording to His ¹power which ²works mightily within me.