Colossians 1

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:

¹Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

¹Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker,

¹Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.

¹Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, and set apart for the gospel of God—

¹Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:

²Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:

⁷To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

²To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

⁴John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from Him who is and was and is to come, and from the seven spirits before His throne,

³Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

²We always thank God for all of you, remembering you in our prayers

³I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as did my forefathers, as I constantly remember you night and day in my prayers.

⁹For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

⁸First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being proclaimed all over the world.

⁹God, whom I serve with my spirit in preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you

⁴I always thank my God for you because of the grace He has given you in Christ Jesus.

³I thank my God every time I remember you.

⁴In every prayer for all of you, I always pray with joy,

¹⁵For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

³We are obligated to thank God for you all the time, brothers, as is fitting, because your faith is growing more and more, and your love for one another is increasing.

³and continually recalling before our God and Father your work of faith, your labor of love, and your enduring hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁰For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.

⁵because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints.

³For I was overjoyed when the brothers came and testified about your devotion to the truth, in which you continue to walk.

⁴I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

⁴and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you,

¹³And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

⁸From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.

²in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.

²⁷To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

²Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,

¹⁶You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.

¹¹filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

²³if indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

¹²Through Silvanus, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.

¹⁷Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

¹⁸But I ask, did they not hear? Indeed they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

²⁶but now revealed and made known through the writings of the prophets by the command of the eternal God, in order to lead all nations to the obedience that comes from faith—

¹²Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, so that you may stand mature and fully assured in the full will of God.

²³Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings,

¹⁷For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people.

⁷Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a beloved brother, a faithful minister, and a fellow servant in the Lord.

²He was faithful to the One who appointed Him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house.

²Now it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

³⁰Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.

⁷For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

⁵And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.

⁴because we have heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints—

²²Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.

¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.

⁹And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,

¹⁰so that you may be able to test and prove what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

⁵Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

¹⁵For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

¹⁶I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,

⁵Act wisely toward outsiders, redeeming the time.

¹⁷Pray without ceasing.

¹As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received:

²¹equip you with every good thing to do His will. And may He accomplish in us what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

²Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

³His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

¹⁶You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.

²²and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight.

¹Finally, brothers, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus to live in a way that is pleasing to God, just as you have received from us. This is how you already live, so you should do so all the more.

¹⁶I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being,

¹³I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

²with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

³Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

⁴perseverance, character; and character, hope.

⁹But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.

¹⁰That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

³²And now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.

¹¹In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,

¹⁸I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,

¹⁸to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’

¹⁷And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.

⁶This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.

⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,

¹⁸to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’

⁹But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

³For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

⁴But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,

¹²encouraging you, comforting you, and urging you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

⁷In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

²⁴and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

²⁵God presented Him as an atoning sacrifice in His blood through faith, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.

¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.

²⁰He was known before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in the last times for your sake.

¹²He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.

²²According to the law, in fact, nearly everything must be purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

⁹And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

³The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

⁹Jesus replied, “Philip, I have been with you all this time, and still you do not know Me? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

⁴The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

¹⁸No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.

¹⁴The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

³⁶For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.

³Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.

⁶yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist.

¹⁰In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting for God, for whom and through whom all things exist, to make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.

¹¹Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all.

²But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.

³The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

⁶yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist.

⁵And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world existed.

⁵⁸“Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

²He was with God in the beginning.

²⁸‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’

²²And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church,

²³which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

⁵and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood,

¹⁵Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.

¹⁶From Him the whole body, fitted and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love through the work of each individual part.

²⁰But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

²¹For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.

¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.

²³that the Christ would suffer, and as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.”

⁹For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.

¹⁶From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.

²³which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

¹¹Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.

³⁴For the One whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.

¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

¹⁹that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

¹⁰as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ.

⁹This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.

¹⁰And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

¹⁴For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility

²¹Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds.

²²But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence—

¹⁷For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people.

¹²remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

³For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

⁴But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,

¹And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,

²in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

⁹Therefore, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him!

¹⁰For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!

¹⁸They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.

¹⁹Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,

²⁷and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.

⁴For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love

²⁴Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—

¹⁰And by that will, we have been sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹⁴He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

⁴Therefore, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.

¹⁴We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the assurance we had at first.

⁶But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are His house, if we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope of which we boast.

¹³But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.

¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

⁹Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

³⁸But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, I will take no pleasure in him.”

²²strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

³Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

⁸So do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me, His prisoner. Instead, join me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.

⁵For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

⁶If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which accomplishes in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we experience.

⁹for which I suffer to the extent of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained!

¹⁰For this reason I endure all things for the sake of the elect, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

¹⁰I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death,

⁴Great is my confidence in you; great is my pride in you; I am filled with encouragement; in all our troubles my joy overflows.

²Surely you have heard about the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you,

²³if indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

⁷On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted to preach the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised.

⁸For the One who was at work in Peter’s apostleship to the circumcised was also at work in my apostleship to the Gentiles.

²Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction.

³For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.

²We sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith,

⁶By pointing out these things to the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of faith and sound instruction that you have followed.

¹⁰He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’

²⁵Now to Him who is able to strengthen you by my gospel and by the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery concealed for ages past

²⁶but now revealed and made known through the writings of the prophets by the command of the eternal God, in order to lead all nations to the obedience that comes from faith—

³that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.

⁴In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,

⁷No, we speak of the mysterious and hidden wisdom of God, which He destined for our glory before time began.

¹¹He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

¹⁴The Lord confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them.

²⁰On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.

¹⁰But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.

¹⁶I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being,

¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love,

⁴You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

²⁰I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

¹⁶Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

²⁷and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.

¹⁵Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.”

¹¹And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,

¹²to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ,

⁴⁸Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

¹⁶Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

²⁴And a servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing.

²⁵He must gently reprove those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.

¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

¹⁹and the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength,

²⁵Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable.

²⁶Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air.

⁷I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace, given me through the working of His power.

¹³For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.

¹For I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me face to face,