- Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the
will of God, and Timothy our brother,
- To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ
at Colosse: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.
- We always thank God, the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
- because we have heard of your faith in
Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints
--
- the faith and love that spring from the
hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard
about in the word of truth, the gospel
- that has come to you. All over the world
this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among
you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth.
- You learned it from Epaphras, our dear
fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,
- and who also told us of your love in the
Spirit.
- For 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 through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
- And we pray this in order that you may
live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing
fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
- being strengthened with all power according
to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,
and joyfully
- giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified
you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
- For he has rescued us from the dominion
of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
- in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness
of sins.
- He is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn over all creation.
- For by him all things were created: things
in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers
or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
- He is before all things, and in him all
things hold together.
- And he is the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything
he might have the supremacy.
- For God was pleased to have all his fullness
dwell in him,
- and through him to reconcile to himself
all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace
through his blood, shed on the cross.
- Once you were alienated from God and were
enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
- But now he has reconciled you by Christ's
physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish
and free from accusation --
- if you continue in your faith, established
and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel
that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven,
and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
- Now I rejoice in what was suffered for
you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's
afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.
- I have become its servant by the commission
God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness
--
- the mystery that has been kept hidden for
ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.
- To 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.
- We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching
everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
- To this end I labor, struggling with all
his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
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