Colossians Chapter 1
Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ who are in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul asks God to grant them spiritual wisdom
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints,
5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope beforehand in the true word of the gospel,
6 which has come to you, as it has to the whole world, and is bearing fruit and growing among you also, since the day you heard it and knew the grace of God in truth,
7 just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,
8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
11 strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience,
12 giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
13 For he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Reconciliation through the death of Christ
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
18 He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
20 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.
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you
22 by his physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—
23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a servant.
Paul's ministry to the Gentiles
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.
25 I became a servant of this church by the commission God gave me to give you, so that I might fully proclaim the word of God,
26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now disclosed to the Lord’s people.
27 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.
28 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.
29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
Colossians Chapter 2
1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face,
2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ,
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 I say this so that no one may deceive you with persuasive words.
5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.
6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,
7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Fullness of life in Christ
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.
11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ,
12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
14 having canceled the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
15 Having disarmed the rulers and authorities, he put them to open shame, triumphing over them in him.
16 Therefore let no one judge you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.
17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and the worship of angels, going into detail about visions, puffed up without reason by their sensuous mind,
19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
20 If, with Christ, you died to the elemental principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:
21 “Do not handle!” “Do not taste!” “Do not touch!”
22 These rules are based on merely human commands and teachings, and all things that perish with use.
23 Such rules indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, false humility, and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
Colossians Chapter 3
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
The old life and the new
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.
7 You yourselves used to walk in these ways, when you lived in them.
8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
9 Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off your old self with its practices
10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Social duties of the new life
18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
21 Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not become discouraged.
22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only when their eye is on you and to please them, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for God.
23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,
24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
25 Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.
Colossians Chapter 4
1 Masters, treat your servants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
3 And pray for us also, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains,
4 that I may make it plain, as I ought to speak.
5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders, making the most of every opportunity.
6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Final greetings
7 Tychicus, my dear brother, faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you everything concerning me.
8 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that he may know how things are going on with you and encourage your hearts,
9 along with Onesimus, my dear and faithful brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here.
10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you greetings, as does Mark, the nephew of Barnabas, concerning whom you have received instructions. If he comes to you, welcome him.
11 Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends you greetings. They are the only circumcised men who are my co-workers for the kingdom of God and have been a great comfort to me.
12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.
13 For I testify of him that he has great concern for you, and for those in Laodicea, and those in Hierapolis.
14 Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas send you their greetings.
15 Greet the brothers and sisters in Laodicea, especially Nympha and the church in her house.
16 After this letter has been read among you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you also read the letter from Laodicea.
17 Tell Archippus, “See that you fulfill the ministry you received in the Lord.”
18 Paul sends his greetings with my own hand. Remember my imprisonment. Grace be with you. Amen.