Colossians 1

CHAPTER 1

Thanksgiving and Prayer

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

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

^3aWe give thanks to God, ^bthe Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

^4asince we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the ^blove which you have ¹for ^call the ²saints,

⁵because of the ^ahope ^blaid up for you in ¹heaven, of which you previously ^cheard in the word of truth, ²the gospel

⁶which has come to you, just as ^1ain all the world also it is constantly bearing ^bfruit and ²multiplying, just as it has been doing in you also since the day you ^cheard and ³understood the grace of God in truth;

⁷just as you learned it from ^aEpaphras, our ^bbeloved fellow slave, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf,

⁸who also informed us of your ^alove in the Spirit.

⁹For this reason also, ^asince the day we heard, ^bwe have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the ^1cfull knowledge of His will in all spiritual ^dwisdom and understanding,

¹⁰so that you may ^awalk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ^1bto please Him in all respects, ^cbearing fruit in every good work and ²multiplying in the ³full knowledge of God;

^11abeing strengthened with all power, according to ¹His glorious might, ²for the attaining of all steadfastness and ³patience; ^bjoyously

¹²giving thanks to ^athe Father, who has qualified us ¹to share in ^bthe inheritance of the ²saints in ^clight.

¹³Who rescued us from the ^aauthority of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of ^bthe Son of His love,

^14ain whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Firstborn of All Creation

¹⁵¹Who is the ^aimage of the ^binvisible God, the ^cfirstborn of all creation.

¹⁶For ^1ain 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.

¹⁷And He ^1ais before all things,

And in Him all things ²hold together.

¹⁸And He is the ^ahead of ^bthe body, the church;

Who is ^cthe beginning, ^dthe firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

¹⁹For in Him ¹all ^athe fullness of God ^bwas pleased to dwell,

²⁰And through Him to ^areconcile all things to Himself, having made ^bpeace through ^cthe blood of His cross—through Him—^dwhether things on earth or things in ¹heaven.

²¹And although you were ^aformerly alienated and enemies in mind and in evil deeds,

²²but now He ^areconciled you in the ^bbody of His flesh through death, in order to ^cpresent you before Him ^dholy and blameless and beyond reproach—

²³if indeed you continue in ¹the faith firmly ^agrounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the ^bhope of the gospel, which you have heard, which was proclaimed ^cin all creation under heaven, ^dand of which I, Paul, ²was made a ^3eminister.

^24aNow I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and ^bI fill up what is lacking of Christ’s afflictions in my flesh, on behalf of ^cHis body, which is the church,

^25aof which I ¹was made a minister according to the ^bstewardship from God given to me for you, so that I might ²fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,

²⁶that is, ^athe mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His ¹saints,

²⁷to 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.

²⁸Him we proclaim, ^aadmonishing every man and teaching every man ¹with all ^bwisdom, so that we may ^cpresent every man ^2dcomplete in Christ.

²⁹For this purpose I also ^alabor, ^bstriving ^caccording to His working, which He works in me in power.