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an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints 5 because of hope which is laid up for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the word of the truth, the gospel 6 that has come to you. All over the world the gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been bearing fruit among you since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in all its truth. 7 You learned this from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on your behalf, 8 and he has told us about your love in the Spirit.
9 For this reason, since the day we heard this, we have not stopped praying for you. We have been asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work as you grow in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 For he has rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, 14 In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things are held together. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in all things He might have pre-eminence. 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 the blood of His cross.
21 Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil ways, 22 but now He has reconciled you by His body of flesh through His death to present you holy, free from blemish and blameless in His sight— 23 If indeed you continue in the faith, established and steadfast and not moved away from the hope given through the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the church. 25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me for you, to make known to you the word of God in all its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but has now been revealed to His saints. 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 perfect in Christ. 29 To this end I also labour, striving with all the energy that He so powerfully works through me.