Colossians 1
“An Apostle of Jesus Christ by the Will of God” (1:1–2)
1 Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 to the saints in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
“Laid up for You in Heaven” (1:3–8)
3 We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. 4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have for all the saints. 5 Your faith and love spring from the hoped-for reward laid up for you in the heavens, and you heard about this hope before in the true word of the gospel 6 that came to you. Just as the gospel is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it also has been bearing fruit and growing among you from the day you heard it and came to know God’s grace in truth. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow slave, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 8 and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit.
“We Have Redemption” (1:9–14)
9 For this reason, from the day we heard about you, we also have not stopped praying for you and asking God that you be filled with the knowledge of his will through complete wisdom and spiritual understanding, 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord and please him in every way—bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have endurance and patience, with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you for a portion of the saints’ inheritance in the light. 13 He rescued us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the dismissal of sins.
Hymn to Christ (1:15–20)
15 He is the image of the unseen God
the firstborn of all creation,
16 for all things in the heavens and on the earth
were created in him—
things seen and unseen—
whether thrones, dominions,
rulers, or authorities;
all things are created through him and for him.
17 And he himself is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
18 And he himself is the head of the body, the church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that he himself may be first in everything.
19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile all things to himself—
whether things on the earth or things in the heavens—
by making peace through the blood of his cross.
“To Present You Holy” (1:21–23)
21 And you were once alienated and hostile in your mental attitude, doing grievous deeds. 22 But now he has reconciled you in his fleshly body through his death, to raise you up holy, blameless, and irreproachable before him— 23 provided that you continue in faith, grounded and firm, and not being moved from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.
“I Am Made a Minister” (1:24–29)
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I complete in my flesh what remains of Christ’s afflictions for his body—that is, the Church. 25 I became a servant of the Church according to the administration of God, given to me for you to fulfill the word of God— 26 that is, the mystery that has been hidden from the ages and the generations but has now been revealed to his Saints. 27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious wealth of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim him by admonishing and teaching everyone in all wisdom, that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I labor, striving with his energy powerfully acting in me.
