Colossians 1:13–22

¹³He has rescued^t us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom^u of the Son^v he loves.^{w 14}In him we have redemption,^F the forgiveness of sins.

THE CENTRALITY OF CHRIST

¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God,^x

the firstborn over all creation.^y

¹⁶For everything was created by him,^z

in heaven and on earth,

the visible and the invisible,

whether thrones or dominions

or rulers or authorities—

all things have been created through him and for him.^aa

¹⁷He is before all things,^ab

and by him all things^ac hold together.

¹⁸He is also the head of the body, the church;

he is the beginning,^ad

the firstborn from the dead,^ae

so that he might come to have

first place in everything.

¹⁹For God was pleased to have

all his fullness^af dwell in him,^ag

²⁰and through him to reconcile

everything to himself,

whether things on earth or things in heaven,

by making peace^ah

through his blood,^ai shed on the cross.^Aaj

²¹Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds as expressed in your evil actions. ²²But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death,^ak to present you holy, faultless,^al and blameless before him^am—