Thanksgiving and Prayer

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

Paul’s Labor for the Church

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.