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Greeting

¹ Paul, ^(a)an apostle of Christ Jesus ^(b)by the will of God, and Timothy ^(c)our brother,

² To the ^(d)saints and faithful brothers^[a] in Christ at Colossae:

^(e)Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

^3 (f)We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ⁴ since we heard of ^(g)your faith in Christ Jesus and of ^(h)the love that you have for all the saints, ⁵ because of ⁽ⁱ⁾the hope ^(j)laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in ^(k)the word of the truth, the gospel, ⁶ which has come to you, as indeed ^(l)in the whole world it is ^(m)bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you ⁽ⁿ⁾heard it and understood ^(o)the grace of God in truth, ⁷ just as you learned it from ^(p)Epaphras our beloved ^(q)fellow servant.^[b] He is ^(r)a faithful minister of Christ on your^[c] behalf ⁸ and has made known to us your ^(s)love in the Spirit.

⁹ And so, ^(t)from the day we heard, ^(u)we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that ^(v)you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all ^(w)spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so as ^(x)to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ^(y)fully pleasing to him: ^(z)bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; ^11 (aa)being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for ^(ab)all endurance and patience ^(ac)with joy; ^12 (ad)giving thanks^[d] to the Father, who has qualified you^[e] to share in ^(ae)the inheritance of the saints in light. ¹³ He ^(af)has delivered us from ^(ag)the domain of darkness and transferred us to ^(ah)the kingdom of ^(ai)his beloved Son, ^14 (aj)in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Preeminence of Christ

^15 (ak)He is the image of ^(al)the invisible God, ^(am)the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For by^[f] him all things were created, ^(an)in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether ^(ao)thrones or ^(ap)dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created ^(aq)through him and for him. ¹⁷ And ^(ar)he is before all things, and in him all things ^(as)hold together. ¹⁸ And ^(at)he is the head of the body, the church. He is ^(au)the beginning, ^(av)the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. ¹⁹ For ^(aw)in him all the ^(ax)fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰ and ^(ay)through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, ^(az)making peace ^(ba)by the blood of his cross.

^21 (bb)And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, ^(bc)doing evil deeds, ²² he has now reconciled ^(bd)in his body of flesh by his death, ^(be)in order to present you holy and blameless and ^(bf)above reproach before him, ^23 (bg)if indeed you continue in the faith, ^(bh)stable and steadfast, not shifting from ^(bi)the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed ^(bj)in all creation^[g] under heaven, ^(bk)and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Paul's Ministry to the Church

²⁴ Now ^(bl)I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh ^(bm)I am filling up ^(bn)what is lacking in Christ's afflictions ^(bo)for the sake of his body, that is, the church, ^25 (bp)of which I became a minister according to ^(bq)the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, ^26 (br)the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. ^27 (bs)To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are ^(bt)the riches of the glory of ^(bu)this mystery, which is Christ in you, ^(bv)the hope of glory. ²⁸ Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that ^(bw)we may present everyone ^(bx)mature in Christ. ²⁹ For this ^(by)I toil, ^(bz)struggling ^(ca)with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.