Colossians 1:1–22

Greeting

1Paul, ^aan apostle of Christ Jesus ^bby the will of God, and Timothy ^cour brother,

²To the ^dsaints and faithful brothers¹ in Christ at Colossae:

^eGrace to you and peace from God our Father.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

^3fWe always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ⁴since we heard of ^gyour faith in Christ Jesus and of ^gthe love that you have for all the saints, ⁵because of ^hthe hope ⁱlaid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in ^jthe word of the truth, the gospel, ⁶which has come to you, as indeed ^kin the whole world it is ^lbearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you ^mheard it and understood ⁿthe grace of God in truth, ⁷just as you learned it from ^oEpaphras our beloved ^pfellow servant.² He is ^pa faithful minister of Christ on your³ behalf ⁸and has made known to us your ^qlove in the Spirit.

⁹And so, ^rfrom the day we heard, ^swe have not ceased to pray for you, asking that ^tyou may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all ^uspiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰so as ^vto walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ^wfully pleasing to him: ^xbearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; ^11ybeing strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for ^zall endurance and patience ^awith joy; ^12bgiving thanks⁴ to the Father, who has qualified you⁵ to share in ^cthe inheritance of the saints in light. ¹³He ^dhas delivered us from ^ethe domain of darkness and transferred us to ^fthe kingdom of ^ghis beloved Son, ^14hin whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Preeminence of Christ

¹⁵ⁱHe is the image of ^jthe invisible God, ^kthe firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶For by⁶ him all things were created, ^lin heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether ^mthrones or ⁿdominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created ^othrough him and for him. ¹⁷And ^phe is before all things, and in him all things ^qhold together. ¹⁸And ^rhe is the head of the body, the church. He is ^sthe beginning, ^tthe firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. ¹⁹For ^uin him all the ^vfullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰and ^wthrough him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, ^xmaking peace ^yby the blood of his cross.

^21zAnd you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, ^adoing evil deeds, ²²he has now reconciled ^bin his body of flesh by his death, ^cin order to present you holy and blameless and ^dabove reproach before him,