Colossians 1:1-29 (New American Standard)

Thankfulness for Spiritual Attainments

1 ¹Paul, ²an apostle of Jesus Christ ^a3by the will of God, and ⁴Timothy ^bour brother, 2 To the ^c5saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae : ⁶Grace to you and peace from God our Father. 3 ⁷We give thanks to God, ⁸the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 ⁹since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the ¹⁰love which you have ^dfor ¹¹all the ^esaints ; 5 because of the ¹²hope ¹³laid up for you in ^fheaven, of which you previously ¹⁴heard in the word of truth, ^gthe gospel 6 which has come to you, just as ^h15in all the world also it is constantly bearing ¹⁶fruit and ⁱincreasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you ¹⁷heard of it and ^junderstood the grace of God in truth ; 7 just as you learned it from ¹⁸Epaphras, our ¹⁹beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 8 and he also informed us of your ²⁰love in the Spirit. 9 For this reason also, ²¹since the day we heard of it, ²²we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the ^k23knowledge of His will in all spiritual ²⁴wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you will ²⁵walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ^l26to please Him in all respects, ²⁷bearing fruit in every good work and ^mincreasing in the ⁿknowledge of God ; 11 ²⁸strengthened with all power, according to ^oHis glorious might, ^pfor the attaining of all steadfastness and ^qpatience ; ²⁹joyously 12 giving thanks to ³⁰the Father, who has qualified us ^rto share in ³¹the inheritance of the ^ssaints in ³²Light.

The Incomparable Christ

13 ^tFor He rescued us from the ^u33domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of ^v34His beloved Son, 14 ³⁵in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 ^wHe is the ³⁶image of the ³⁷invisible God, the ³⁸firstborn of all creation. 16 For ^x39by Him all things were created, ⁴⁰both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether ⁴¹thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities -⁴²all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He ^y43is before all things, and in Him all things ^zhold together. 18 He is also ⁴⁴head of ⁴⁵the body, the church ; and He is ⁴⁶the beginning, ⁴⁷the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19 For ^aait was ⁴⁸the Father's good pleasure for all ⁴⁹the ^bbfullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to ⁵⁰reconcile all things to Himself, having made ⁵¹peace through ⁵²the blood of His cross ; through Him, I say, ⁵³whether things on earth or things in ^ccheaven. 21 And although you were ⁵⁴formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now ⁵⁵reconciled you in His fleshly ⁵⁶body through death, in order to ⁵⁷present you before Him ⁵⁸holy and blameless and beyond reproach - 23 if indeed you continue in ^ddthe faith firmly ⁵⁹established and steadfast, and not moved away from the ⁶⁰hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed ⁶¹in all creation under heaven, ⁶²and of which I, Paul, ^eewas made a ^ff63minister. 24 ⁶⁴Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh ⁶⁵I ^ggdo my share on behalf of ⁶⁶His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking ^hhin Christ's afflictions. 25 ⁶⁷Of this church I ⁱⁱwas made a minister according to the ⁶⁸stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might ^jjfully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, ⁶⁹the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His ^kksaints, 27 to whom ⁷⁰God willed to make known what is ⁷¹the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is ⁷²Christ in you, the ⁷³hope of glory. 28 We proclaim Him, ⁷⁴admonishing every man and teaching every man ^llwith all ⁷⁵wisdom, so that we may ⁷⁶present every man ^mm77complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I ⁷⁸labor, ⁷⁹striving ⁸⁰according to His ⁿⁿpower, which ^oomightily works within me.