Colossians 1:15–23

The Supremacy of Christ

¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation,^{* 16}for inⁱ him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷He himself is before all things, and in^j him all things hold together. ¹⁸He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.^{* 19}For in him all the fullness of God^k was pleased to dwell, ²⁰and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.^*

²¹And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, ²²he has now reconciled^l in his fleshly body^m through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him,^{* 23}provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creatureⁿ under heaven. I, Paul, became a minister of this gospel.^*