Colossians 1–2

1Paul, an apostle^a of Christ Jesus by the will of God,^b and Timothy^c our brother,

²To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters^a in Christ:

Grace^d and peace to you from God our Father.^be

Thanksgiving and Prayer

³We always thank God,^f the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ⁴because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love^g you have for all God’s people^h—⁵the faith and love that spring from the hopeⁱ stored up for you in heaven^j and about which you have already heard in the true message^k of the gospel ⁶that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit^l and growing throughout the whole world^m—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. ⁷You learned it from Epaphras,ⁿ our dear fellow servant,^c who is a faithful minister^o of Christ on our^d behalf, ⁸and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.^p

⁹For 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 will^s through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,^{et 10}so that you may live a life worthy^u of the Lord and please him^v in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,^{w 11}being strengthened with all power^x 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 you^f to share in the inheritance^a of his holy people in the kingdom of light.^{b 13}For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness^c and brought us into the kingdom^d 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

¹⁵The Son is the image^h of the invisible God,ⁱ the firstborn^j over all creation. ¹⁶For 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. ¹⁸And he is the head^o of the body, the church;^p he is the beginning and the firstborn^q from among the dead,^r so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹For God was pleased^s to have all his fullness^t dwell in him, ²⁰and through him to reconcile^u to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven,^v by making peace^w through his blood,^x shed on the cross.

²¹Once you were alienated from God and were enemies^y in your minds^z because of^g your evil behavior. ²²But now he has reconciled^a you by Christ’s physical body^b through death to present you^c holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation^d—²³if you continue^e in your faith, established^f and firm, and do not move from the hope^g 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

Paul’s Labor for the Church

²⁴Now I rejoice^j 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 servant^m by the commission God gave meⁿ to present to you the word of God^o in its fullness—²⁶the mystery^p that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. ²⁷To them God has chosen to make known^q among the Gentiles the glorious riches^r of this mystery, which is Christ in you,^s the hope of glory.

²⁸He is the one we proclaim, admonishing^t and teaching everyone with all wisdom,^u so that we may present everyone fully mature^v in Christ. ²⁹To this end I strenuously^w contend^x with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.^y

2I want you to know how hard I am contending^z for you and for those at Laodicea,^a and for all who have not met me personally. ²My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart^b and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery^c of God, namely, Christ, ³in 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 spirit^f and delight to see how disciplined^g you are and how firm^h your faith in Christⁱ is.

Spiritual Fullness in Christ

⁶So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,^j continue to live your lives in him, ⁷rooted^k and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught,^l and overflowing with thankfulness.

⁸See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,^m which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces^a of this worldⁿ rather than on Christ.

⁹For in Christ all the fullness^o of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head^p over every power and authority.^{q 11}In him you were also circumcised^r with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh^bs was put off when you were circumcised by^c Christ, ¹²having been buried with him in baptism,^t in which you were also raised with him^u through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.^v

¹³When you were dead in your sins^w and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you^d alive^x with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,^{y 14}having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness,^z which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.^{a 15}And having disarmed the powers and authorities,^b he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them^c by the cross.^e

Freedom From Human Rules

¹⁶Therefore do not let anyone judge you^d by what you eat or drink,^e or with regard to a religious festival,^f a New Moon celebration^g or a Sabbath day.^{h 17}These are a shadow of the things that were to come;ⁱ the reality, however, is found in Christ. ¹⁸Do not let anyone who delights in false humility^j and the worship of angels disqualify you.^k Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. ¹⁹They have lost connection with the head,^l from whom the whole body,^m supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.ⁿ

²⁰Since you died with Christ^o to the elemental spiritual forces of this world,^p why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:^{q 21}“Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? ²²These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish^r with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.^{s 23}Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility^t and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.