Greeting

1 Paul, ^aan apostle of Christ Jesus ^bby the will of God, and Timothy ^cour brother,

2 To the ^dsaints and faithful brothers¹ in Christ at Colossae:

^eGrace to you and peace from God our Father.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

3 ^fWe always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of ^gyour faith in Christ Jesus and of ^gthe love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of ^hthe hope ⁱlaid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in ^jthe word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed ^kin the whole world it is ^lbearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you ^mheard it and understood ⁿthe grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from ^oEpaphras our beloved ^pfellow servant.² He is ^pa faithful minister of Christ on your³ behalf 8 and has made known to us your ^qlove in the Spirit.

9 And so, ^rfrom the day we heard, ^swe have not ceased to pray for you, asking that ^tyou may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all ^uspiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as ^vto walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ^wfully pleasing to him: ^xbearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 ^ybeing strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for ^zall endurance and patience ^awith joy; 12 ^bgiving thanks⁴ to the Father, who has qualified you⁵ to share in ^cthe inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He ^dhas delivered us from ^ethe domain of darkness and transferred us to ^fthe kingdom of ^ghis beloved Son, 14 ^hin whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Preeminence of Christ

15 ⁱHe is the image of ^jthe invisible God, ^kthe firstborn of all creation. 16 For by⁶ him all things were created, ^lin heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether ^mthrones or ⁿdominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created ^othrough him and for him. 17 And ^phe is before all things, and in him all things ^qhold together. 18 And ^rhe is the head of the body, the church. He is ^sthe beginning, ^tthe firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For ^uin him all the ^vfullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and ^wthrough him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, ^xmaking peace ^yby the blood of his cross.

21 ^zAnd you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, ^adoing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled ^bin his body of flesh by his death, ^cin order to present you holy and blameless and ^dabove reproach before him, 23 ^eif indeed you continue in the faith, ^fstable and steadfast, not shifting from ^gthe hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed ^hin all creation⁷ under heaven, ⁱand of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Paul’s Ministry to the Church

24 Now ^jI rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh ^kI am filling up ^lwhat is lacking in Christ’s afflictions ^mfor the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 ⁿof which I became a minister according to ^othe stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 ^pthe mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 ^qTo them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are ^rthe riches of the glory of ^pthis mystery, which is Christ in you, ^sthe hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that ^twe may present everyone ^umature in Christ. 29 For this ^vI toil, ^wstruggling ^xwith all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

1 For I want you to know ^yhow great a ^wstruggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that ^ztheir hearts may be encouraged, being ^aknit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of ^bGod’s mystery, which is Christ, 3 ^cin whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order ^dthat no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For ^ethough I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your ^fgood order and ^gthe firmness of your faith in Christ.

Alive in Christ

6 ^hTherefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 ⁱrooted and ^jbuilt up in him and ^kestablished in the faith, just ^las you were taught, abounding ^min thanksgiving.

8 See to it that no one takes you captive by ⁿphilosophy and ^oempty deceit, according to ^phuman tradition, according to the ^qelemental spirits⁸ of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For ^rin him the whole fullness of deity dwells ^sbodily, 10 and ^tyou have been filled in him, who is ^uthe head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also ^vyou were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by ^wputting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 ^xhaving been buried with him in baptism, in which ^yyou were also raised with him through faith in ^zthe powerful working of God, ^zwho raised him from the dead. 13 ^aAnd you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God ^bmade alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by ^ccanceling ^dthe record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 ^wHe disarmed the rulers and authorities⁹ and ^eput them to open shame, by ^ftriumphing over them in him.¹⁰

Let No One Disqualify You

16 Therefore let no one ^gpass judgment on you ^hin questions of food and drink, or with regard to ⁱa festival or ^ja new moon or a Sabbath. 17 ^kThese are a shadow of the things to come, but ^lthe substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one ^mdisqualify you, ⁿinsisting on asceticism and worship of angels, ^ogoing on in detail about visions,^{11 p}puffed up without reason by ^qhis sensuous mind, 19 and ^rnot ^sholding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

20 If with Christ ^tyou died to the ^uelemental spirits of the world, ^vwhy, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 ^w“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (^xreferring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to ^yhuman precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in ^zpromoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are ^aof no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Tremble at the Presence of the Lord