Colossians 1

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1. 1This letter is from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and from Timothy our brother.
2. 2To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ at Colossae: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. 3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, whenever we pray for you,
4. 4because we've heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love you show to all the saints.
5. 5The hope stored up for you in heaven, which you heard about before in the true message of the gospel;
6. 6That gospel is spreading and bearing fruit all over the world, just as it has been doing among you ever since the day you heard it and truly understood God's grace.
7. 7You also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellowservant, who is a faithful minister of Christ for you.
8. 8He also told us about your love in the Spirit.
9. 9That's why, from the day we heard about you, we haven't stopped praying for you. We ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through every kind of spiritual wisdom and understanding,
10. 10so that you would live in a way that honors the Lord and pleases him in every respect — producing fruit through every good thing you do and growing deeper in your knowledge of God.
11. 11We pray that you'd be strengthened with all power, drawn from his glorious might, so you can endure anything with patience and joy,
12. 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light:
13. 13He rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of his beloved Son,
14. 14in whom we have redemption through his blood — the forgiveness of sins.
15. 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16. 16By him, all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, dominions, principalities, or powers. All things were created by him and for him.
17. 17And he is before all things, and by him all things hold together.
18. 18He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in everything he would hold first place.
19. 19For it pleased the Father that all his fullness should dwell in him,
20. 20and through him to reconcile all things to himself — whether things on earth or things in heaven — by making peace through the blood of his cross.
21. 21There was a time when you were alienated from God and hostile in your minds through your wicked actions, but now he has reconciled you,
22. 22through Christ's physical body and his death, so that he could present you before God as holy, without fault, and beyond accusation —
23. 23as long as you stay rooted and firm in the faith, not drifting away from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.
24. 24I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and in my flesh, I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of his body, which is the church.
25. 25God made me a minister according to the dispensation given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God;
26. 26the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints.
27. 27To them, God chose to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28. 28He is the one we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present every person perfect in Christ Jesus.
29. 29That's what I pour all my energy into, struggling with all the strength that Christ so powerfully works within me.