New Revised Standard NRS
New International Version NIV
16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him.
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For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
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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 he might come to have first place in everything.
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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.
19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
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For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
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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 And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
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Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
22 he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him—
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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—
23 provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.
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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 that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
24 I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.
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Now I rejoice in what I am suffering 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.
25 I became its servant according to God's commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,
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I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—
26 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints.
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the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.