Letter to the Colossians
1
2 to the saints in Colossae, our faith ful brothers and sisters in Christ:
2 Receive grace and peace from God our Father, and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 We constantly pray for you, 4 for we have known of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints. Indeed you await in hope the inheritance reserved for you in heaven, 5 of which you have heard through the word of truth. This Gos pel, 6 already present among you, is bearing fruit and growing through out the world, as it did among you from the day you ac cepted it and understood the gift of God in all its truth. 7 He who taught you, Epa phras, our dear com panion in the service of Christ, faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8 has reminded me of the love you have for me in the spirit. 9 Because of this, from the day we received news of you, we have not ceased praying to God for you, that you may attain the full knowledge of his will through all the gifts of wisdom and spiritual understanding. 10 May your lifestyle be worthy of the Lord and completely pleasing to him. May you bear fruit in every good work and grow in the knowledge of God.
11 May you become strong in everything by a sharing of the Glory of God, so that you may have great endurance and persevere in joy.
12 Constantly give thanks to the Father who has empowered us to receive our share in the in heritance of the saints in his kingdom of light. 13 He rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son. 14 In him we are redeemed and forgiven. Christ is the beginning of everything
15 He is the image of the unseen God, 15 and for all creation he is the firstborn, 19 for God was pleased to let fullness dwell in him. 20 Through him God willed to reconcile all things to himself,
20 and through him, through his blood shed on the cross,
20 God establishes peace,
20 on earth as in heaven.
21 You yourselves were once estranged and opposed to God be cause of your evil deeds, 22 but now God has reconciled you in the hu man body of his Son through his death, so that you may be without fault, holy and blameless before him. 23 Only stand firm, upon the foundation of your faith, and be steadfast in hope. Keep in mind the Gos pel you have heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, be came a minister. 24 At present I rejoice when I suffer for you; I complete in my own flesh what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body, which is the Church. 25 For I am serving the Church since God entrusted to me the ministry to make the word of God fully known. 26 I mean that mysterious plan that for centuries and generations remained secret, and which God has now revealed to his holy ones. 27 God willed to make known to them the riches and even the Glory that his mysterious plan reserved for the pagan nations: Christ is in you and you may hope God’s Glory. 28 This Christ we preach. We warn and teach everyone true wisdom, aiming to make everyone perfect in Christ. 29 For this cause I labor and struggle with the energy of Christ working powerfully in me.
29 For this cause I labor and struggle with the energy of Christ working powerfully in me.