2 To the saints and bfaithful brothers1 in Christ at Colossae:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 cWe always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since dwe heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the ehope flaid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the gword of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed hin the whole world it is ibearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you jheard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from kEpaphras our beloved fellow servant.2 He is a faithful minister of Christ on your3 behalf 8 and has made known to us your llove in the Spirit.
9 And so, from the day we heard, we have mnot ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge nof his will in oall spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to pwalk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: qbearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being rstrengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks4 to the Father, who has qualified you5 to share in the sinheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has tdelivered us from the udomain of darkness and vtransferred us to the kingdom of his wbeloved Son, 14 in whom we have xredemption, the yforgiveness of sins.
Taming the Tongue
1 aNot many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 bFor we all cstumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to dbridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it eboasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a ffire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, gstaining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,1 and set on fire by hell.2 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, hfull of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are imade in the likeness of God. 10 jFrom the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,3 these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 kCan a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
Wisdom from Above
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.
