Colossians
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by
the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are
in Colosse: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ.
3We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of
your love for all the saints;
5because of the hope which is laid up for you in
heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel,
6which has come to you, as it has also in all the
world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you
heard and knew the grace of God in truth;
7as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow
servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,
8who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
9For this reason we also, since the day we heard it,
do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the
knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing
Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11strengthened with all might, according to His
glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;
12giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to
be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
13He has delivered us from the power of darkness and
conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
14in whom we have redemption through His blood, the
forgiveness of sins.
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
over all creation.
16For by Him all things were created that are in heaven
and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or
principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
17And He is before all things, and in Him all things
consist.
18And He is the head of the body, the church, who is
the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the
preeminence.
19For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness
should dwell,
20and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by
Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the
blood of His cross.
21And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your
mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
22in the body of His flesh through death, to present
you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight--
23if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and
steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard,
which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a
minister.
24I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up
in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His
body, which is the church,
25of which I became a minister according to the
stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God,
26the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from
generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.
27To them God willed to make known what are the riches
of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the
hope of glory.
28Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man
in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.
29To this end I also labor, striving according to His
working which works in me mightily.
2For I want you to know what a great
conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen
my face in the flesh,
2that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit
together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of
understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and
of Christ,
3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge.
4Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with
persuasive words.
5For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with
you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your
faith in Christ.
6As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord,
so walk in Him,
7rooted and built up in Him and established in the
faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
8Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and
empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic
principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
9For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily;
10and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all
principality and power.
11In Him you were also circumcised with the
circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the
flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,
12buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were
raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the
dead.
13And you, being dead in your trespasses and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having
forgiven you all trespasses,
14having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that
was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way,
having nailed it to the cross.
15Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a
public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
16So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or
regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,
17which are a shadow of things to come, but the
substance is of Christ.
18Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight
in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he
has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
19and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the
body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the
increase that is from God.
20Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic
principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject
yourselves to regulations--
21"Do not touch, do not taste, do not
handle,"
22which all concern things which perish with the
using--according to the commandments and doctrines of men?
23These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in
self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no
value against the indulgence of the flesh.
3If then you were raised with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand
of God.
2Set your mind on things above, not on things on the
earth.
3For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in
God.
4When Christ who is our life appears, then you also
will appear with Him in glory.
5Therefore put to death your members which are on the
earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which
is idolatry.
6Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon
the sons of disobedience,
7in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in
them.
8But now you yourselves are to put off all these:
anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
9Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the
old man with his deeds,
10and have put on the new man who is renewed in
knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
11where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor
uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in
all.
12Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put
on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;
13bearing with one another, and forgiving one another,
if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you
also must do.
14But above all these things put on love, which is the
bond of perfection.
15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to
which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all
wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the
name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
18Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in
the Lord.
19Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward
them.
20Children, obey your parents in all things, for this
is well pleasing to the Lord.
21Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they
become discouraged.
22Bondservants, obey in all things your masters
according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity
of heart, fearing God.
23And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and
not to men,
24knowing that from the Lord you will receive the
reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
25But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has
done, and there is no partiality.
4Masters, give your bondservants what
is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
2Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it
with thanksgiving;
3meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to
us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in
chains,
4that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.
5Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside,
redeeming the time.
6Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with
salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
7Tychicus, a beloved brother, faithful minister, and
fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me.
8I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that
he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts,
9with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is
one of you. They will make known to you all things which are happening here.
10Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, with Mark
the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions: if he comes to
you, welcome him),
11and Jesus who is called Justus. These are my only
fellow workers for the
12Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ,
greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand
perfect and complete in all the will of God.
13For I bear him witness that he has a great zeal for
you, and those who are in
14Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you.
15Greet the brethren who are in
16Now when this epistle is read among you, see that it
is read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you likewise read the
epistle from
17And say to Archippus, "Take heed to the ministry
which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it."
18This salutation by my own hand--Paul. Remember my
chains. Grace be with you. Amen.