Colossians 1:10-20

10 [so as] to walk worthily of the Lord unto all well-pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work, and growing by the true knowledge [a] of God;
11 strengthened with all power according to the might of his glory unto all endurance and longsuffering with joy;
12 giving thanks to the Father, who has made us fit for sharing the portion [b] of the saints in light,
13 who has delivered us from the authority of darkness, and translated [us] into the kingdom of the Son of his love:
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins;
15 who is image of the invisible God, firstborn of all creation; [c]
16 because by [d] him were created all things, [e] the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones, or lordships, or principalities, or authorities: all things [f] have been created by [g] him and for [h] him.
17 And *he* is before all, and all things subsist together by him.
18 And *he* is the head of the body, the assembly; who is [the] beginning, firstborn from among the dead, that *he* might have the first place in all things:
19 for in him all the fulness [of the Godhead] was pleased to dwell,
20 and by him to reconcile all things to itself, having made peace by the blood of his cross -- by him, whether the things on the earth or the things in the heavens.

Images for Colossians 1:10-20

Footnotes 9

  • [a]. Epignosis, i.e. 'full knowledge,' as chs. 2.2; 3.10; Matt. 11.27; Eph. 1.17.
  • [b]. See Note, Acts 26.18.
  • [c]. See Note h, ver. 23.
  • [d]. En. Lit. 'in him,' in the power of whose person. He was the one whose intrinsic power characterized the creation. It exists as his creature.
  • [e]. Looked at as a whole: 'the all things,' as vers. 17,20; Eph. 3.9.
  • [f]. See Note l ver. 16.
  • [g]. Dia, the instrumental power.
  • [h]. Eis, 'for.' These three prepositions, en, dia, eis, show Christ to be the characteristic power, the active instrument, and the end in creation.
  • [i]. I add '[of the Godhead]' from ch. 2.9, as it makes the 'it' in vers. 21, 22 seem less harsh.
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.