Colossians 1

Greeting

1 Paul a an apostle of Christ Jesus b by the will of God, and Timothy c our brother,

2 To the d saints and faithful brothers ▼
▼ Or  brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God’s family, the church
 in Christ at Colossae:

f Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

3  g We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of h your faith in Christ Jesus and of i the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of j the hope k laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in l the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed m in the whole world it is n bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you o heard it and understood p the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from q Epaphras our beloved r fellow servant. ▼
▼ Greek  fellow bondservant
 He is t a faithful minister of Christ on your ▼
▼ Some manuscripts our
 behalf 8 and has made known to us your v love in the Spirit.

9 And so, w from the day we heard, x we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that y you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all z spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as aa to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ab fully pleasing to him, ac bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11  ad May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for ae all endurance and patience af with joy, 12  ag giving thanks ▼
▼ Or  patience, with joy giving thanks
 to the Father, who has qualified you ▼
▼ Some manuscripts us
 to share in aj the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He ak has delivered us from al the domain of darkness and transferred us to am the kingdom of an his beloved Son, 14  ao in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Preeminence of Christ

15  ap He is the image of aq the invisible God ar the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by ▼
▼ That is,  by means of; or in
 him all things were created at in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether au thrones or av dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created aw through him and for him. 17 And ax he is before all things, and in him all things ay hold together. 18 And az he is the head of the body, the church. He is ba the beginning bb the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For bc in him all the bd fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and be through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven bf making peace bg by the blood of his cross.

21  bh And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind bi doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled bj in his body of flesh by his death, bk in order to present you holy and blameless and bl above reproach before him, 23  bm if indeed you continue in the faith bn stable and steadfast, not shifting from bo the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed bp in all creation ▼
▼ Or to every creature
 under heaven br and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Paul’s Ministry to the Church

24 Now bs I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh bt I am filling up bu what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions bv for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25  bw of which I became a minister according to bx the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26  by the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27  bz To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are ca the riches of the glory of cb this mystery, which is Christ in you cc the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that cd we may present everyone ce mature in Christ. 29 For this cf I toil cg struggling ch with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

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