Chapter 1

Thanksgiving and Prayer

1 Paul, ^a an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2 to the saints ^b and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colosse: ^c Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

3 ^d We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

4 ^e since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of ^f the love that you have for all the saints;

5 for the hope ^g that is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel

6 that has come to you. ^h Even in all the world this gospel ⁱ is bringing forth fruit, just as it does also in you since the day you heard and knew ^j the grace of God in truth.

7 You learned it from ^k Epaphras our dear fellow bondservant, who is for you ^l a faithful servant of Christ,

8 who also declared to us your ^m love in the Spirit.

9 ⁿ For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire ^o that you might be filled with ^p the knowledge of His will ^q in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,

10 ^r so that you might walk worthy of the Lord to ^s fully please Him, ^t being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the ^u knowledge of God,

11 ^v strengthened with all power according to His glorious power, ^w for all patience and longsuffering ^x with joy,

12 ^y giving thanks to the Father who has made us to be partakers of ^z the inheritance of the saints in light.

13 He has delivered us from ^a the power of darkness and ^b has transferred us into the kingdom of His dear Son,

14 ^c in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

The Preeminence of Christ

15 He is ^d the image of the invisible God, ^e the firstborn of all creation.

16 For ^f by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or ^g dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created ^h through Him and for Him.

17 And ⁱ He is above all things and by Him ^j all things hold together.

18 And ^k He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, ^l the firstborn from the dead, so that in all things He might have the preeminence.

19 For it pleased the Father that ^m in Him should all the fullness dwell,

20 and ⁿ through Him to reconcile ^o all things to Himself, ^p having made peace through the blood of His cross, through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

21 And you ^q who were formerly alienated and enemies in your mind ^r by wicked works, yet now He has ^s reconciled

22 ^t in the body of His flesh through death, ^u to present you holy and blameless and beyond reproach in His sight;

23 if you continue ^v in the faith grounded and steadfast, and ^w not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, ^x which was preached to every creature that is under heaven, ^y of which I, Paul, was made a servant.

Christ’s Ministry through Paul

24 ^z Who now rejoice in my sufferings ^a for you, and fill up in my flesh ^b what is still lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for ^c the sake of His body, which is the church,

25 of which I was made a servant according to ^d the stewardship of God that is given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God,

26 ^e the mystery that has been hidden from past ages and from generations, ^f but now has been manifested to His saints.

27 ^g To them God willed to make known what is ^h the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is ⁱ Christ in you, ^j the hope of glory.

28 Him we preach, ^k warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, so ^l that we may present every man complete in Christ Jesus.

29 For this purpose I also labor, striving according to His working that ^m powerfully works in me.

Chapter 2

1 For I want you to know how great a ^a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh,

2 that their hearts may be comforted, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the full knowledge of the mystery of God, that is, Christ,

3 ^b in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

4 And this I say ^c so that no one should deceive you with persuasive words.

5 For ^d though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in the spirit, rejoicing to see ^e your orderly conduct and the ^f steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

Freedom in Christ

6 ^g As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,

7 ^h rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

8 Beware lest anyone take you captive through philosophy and vain deceit according to ⁱ the tradition of men, according to ^j the elementary principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

9 For ^k in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells bodily.

10 And you are complete in Him, who is the ^l head of all principality and power.

11 In Him you were also circumcised with the ^m circumcision not made with hands, in ⁿ the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;

12 ^o having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through ^p faith in the working of God ^q who raised Him from the dead.

13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all trespasses,

14 ^r wiping out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He took it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

15 ^s And having disarmed ^t principalities and powers, He made a public display of them, triumphing over them in it.

16 Therefore, let no one ^u judge you in food or in drink, or in respect to a festival, or of a new moon, or of sabbaths,

17 ^v which are a shadow of things to come. But the body is of Christ.

18 Let no man disqualify you of your reward by delighting in false humility and the worship of angels, intruding into those things that he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

19 and not holding fast to ^w the head, from whom all the body, being nourished and held together by the joints and ligaments, ^x grows with the increase of God.

20 Therefore, if you ^y died with Christ from the elementary principles of the world, ^z why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourselves to ordinances?

21 ^a “Do not touch. Do not taste. Do not handle.”

22 All these concern things that perish with the using, ^b after the commandments and doctrines of men.

23 ^c These things have indeed a show of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and neglect of the body, but lack in any value in restraining the indulgence of the flesh.

Chapter 3

Living as a Disciple

1 If you then were ^a raised with Christ, seek those things that are above, ^b where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.

2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the ^c earth.

3 ^d For you are dead, ^e and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

4 ^f When Christ who is ^g our life is revealed, then you also will appear with Him in ^h glory.

5 ⁱ Therefore, put to death ^j your members that are on the earth: ^k fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, ^l which is idolatry.

6 ^m Because of these things the wrath of God is coming on ⁿ the sons of disobedience.

7 ^o In these you also once walked when you lived in them.

8 ^p But now you also put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, and filthy speech out of your mouth.

9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,

10 and have put on the new man, who ^q is renewed in knowledge ^r after the image of Him who ^s created him,

11 where there is neither ^t Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant nor free. ^u But Christ is all and in all.

12 Therefore, put on ^v as the elect of God, holy and beloved, ^w a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;

13 ^x forbearing one another and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do you.

14 And ^y above all these things ^z put on love, which is the ^a bond of perfect unity.

15 And let ^b the peace of God rule in your hearts, ^c to which also you are called ^d in one body. And ^e be thankful.

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another ^f in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

17 And ^g whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Christ in the Home

18 ^h Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, ⁱ as it is fitting in the Lord.

19 ^j Husbands, love your wives and do not be ^k harsh toward them.

20 ^l Children, obey your parents ^m in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord.

21 ⁿ Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

22 ^o Bondservants, in all things obey your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice as menpleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.

23 And ^p whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men,

24 ^q knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, ^r for you serve the Lord Christ.

25 But he who does wrong will receive for the wrong what he has done. And ^s there is no respect of persons.

Chapter 4

Christian Conduct

1 ^a Masters, give to your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

2 ^b Continue in prayer, keeping alert in it ^c with thanksgiving.

3 ^d Also continue praying for us so that God may ^e open to us a door for the word, to speak ^f the mystery of Christ, ^g for which I am also in chains,

4 and that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak.

5 ^h Walk in ⁱ wisdom toward those who are outside, ^j making the most of every opportunity.

6 Let your speech always be ^k with grace, ^l seasoned with salt, so ^m that you may know how you ought to answer everyone.

Farewell Greetings

7 All my affairs, ⁿ Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will inform you.

8 ^o I have sent him to you for the same purpose, so that you may know our circumstances and comfort your hearts,

9 with ^p Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you all things that are happening here.

10 ^q Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, with ^r Mark the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him. If he comes to you, receive him.)

11 And Jesus who is called Justus, also greets you. These are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are of the circumcision. They have been a comfort to me.

12 ^s Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, salutes you, always ^t laboring fervently for you in prayers so that you may stand ^u perfect and complete in all the will of God.

13 For I bear him witness that he has a great zeal for you, and for those who are in Laodicea and those in Hierapolis.

14 ^v Luke, the beloved physician, and ^w Demas, greet you.

15 Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea, and Nympha and ^x the church that is in her house.

16 And when ^y this letter is read among you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you likewise read the letter from Laodicea.

17 And say to ^z Archippus, “Take heed to ^a the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfill it.”

18 I, Paul, ^b write this greeting by my own hand. ^c Remember my chains. Grace be with you. Amen.