Colossians 1
Greeting
Paul, aan apostle of Christ Jesus bby the will of God, and Timothy cour brother,
2 To the asaints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:
bGrace to you and peace from God our Father.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 aWe always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of ayour faith in Christ Jesus and of athe love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of athe hope blaid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in cthe word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed ain the whole world it is bbearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you cheard it and understood dthe grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from aEpaphras our beloved bfellow servant. He is ba faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your alove in the Spirit.
9 And so, afrom the day we heard, bwe have not ceased to pray for you, asking that cyou may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all dspiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as ato walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, bfully pleasing to him: cbearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 abeing strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for ball endurance and patience cwith joy; 12 agiving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in bthe inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He ahas delivered us from bthe domain of darkness and transferred us to cthe kingdom of dhis beloved Son, 14 ain whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The Preeminence of Christ
15 aHe is the image of bthe invisible God, cthe firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, ain heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether bthrones or cdominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created dthrough him and for him. 17 And ahe is before all things, and in him all things bhold together. 18 And ahe is the head of the body, the church. He is bthe beginning, cthe firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For ain him all the bfullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and athrough him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, bmaking peace cby the blood of his cross.
21 aAnd you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, bdoing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled ain his body of flesh by his death, bin order to present you holy and blameless and cabove reproach before him, 23 aif indeed you continue in the faith, bstable and steadfast, not shifting from cthe hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed din all creation under heaven, eand of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Paul’s Ministry to the Church
24 Now aI rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh bI am filling up cwhat is lacking in Christ’s afflictions dfor the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 aof which I became a minister according to bthe stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 athe mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 aTo them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are bthe riches of the glory of cthis mystery, which is Christ in you, dthe hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that awe may present everyone bmature in Christ. 29 For this aI toil, bstruggling cwith all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.