Colossians 4
4 Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair,o because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.
2 Devote yourselves to prayer,p being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a doorq for our message, so that we may proclaim the mysteryr of Christ, for which I am in chains.s 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wiset in the way you act toward outsiders;u make the most of every opportunity.v 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace,w seasoned with salt,x so that you may know how to answer everyone.y
7 Tychicusz will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servanta a in the Lord. 8 I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about ourb circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts.b 9 He is coming with Onesimus,c our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you.d They will tell you everything that is happening here.
10 My fellow prisoner Aristarchuse sends you his greetings, as does Mark,f the cousin of Barnabas.g (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.) 11 Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jewsc among my co-workersh for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me. 12 Epaphras,i who is one of youj and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you,k that you may stand firm in all the will of God, maturel and fully assured. 13 I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodiceam and Hierapolis. 14 Our dear friend Luke,n the doctor, and Demaso send greetings. 15 Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters at Laodicea,p and to Nympha and the church in her house.q
16 After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also readr in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.
17 Tell Archippus:s “See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord.”t
18 I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand.u Rememberv my chains.w Grace be with you.x
Colossians 1:1–4:18
1 Paul, an apostlea of Christ Jesus by the will of God,b and Timothyc our brother,
2 To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sistersa in Christ:
Graced and peace to you from God our Father.b e
3 We always thank God,f the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the loveg you have for all God’s peopleh—5 the faith and love that spring from the hopei stored up for you in heavenj and about which you have already heard in the true messagek of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruitl and growing throughout the whole worldm—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. 7 You learned it from Epaphras,n our dear fellow servant,c who is a faithful ministero of Christ on ourd behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.p
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you,q we have not stopped praying for you.r We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his wills through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,e t 10 so that you may live a life worthyu of the Lord and please himv in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,w 11 being strengthened with all powerx according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,y 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father,z who has qualified youf to share in the inheritancea of his holy people in the kingdom of light.b 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darknessc and brought us into the kingdomd of the Son he loves,e 14 in whom we have redemption,f the forgiveness of sins.g
The Supremacy of the Son of God
15 The Son is the imageh of the invisible God,i the firstbornj over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created:k things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;l all things have been created through him and for him.m 17 He is before all things,n and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the heado of the body, the church;p he is the beginning and the firstbornq from among the dead,r so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleaseds to have all his fullnesst dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcileu to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven,v by making peacew through his blood,x shed on the cross.
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemiesy in your mindsz because ofg your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconcileda you by Christ’s physical bodyb through death to present youc holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusationd—23 if you continuee in your faith, establishedf and firm, and do not move from the hopeg held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven,h and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.i
24 Now I rejoicej in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions,k for the sake of his body, which is the church.l 25 I have become its servantm by the commission God gave men to present to you the word of Godo in its fullness—26 the mysteryp that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make knownq among the Gentiles the glorious richesr of this mystery, which is Christ in you,s the hope of glory.
28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishingt and teaching everyone with all wisdom,u so that we may present everyone fully maturev in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuouslyw contendx with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.y
2 I want you to know how hard I am contendingz for you and for those at Laodicea,a and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heartb and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mysteryc of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.d 4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.e 5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spiritf and delight to see how disciplinedg you are and how firmh your faith in Christi is.
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,j continue to live your lives in him, 7 rootedk and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught,l and overflowing with thankfulness.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,m which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forcesa of this worldn rather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullnesso of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to …