1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2. To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ who are at Colosse:Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.
4. For we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints,
5. because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you have already heard in the word of the truth of the gospel,
6. which has come to you, as it has in all the world, and brings forth fruit, as it has also in you, since the day you heard it and knew the grace of God in truth.
7. And you also learned of Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ for you,
8. who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
9. For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10. that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, pleasing to all, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God,
11. strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, enduring everything with perseverance and patience joyfully,
12. giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled us to be partakers in the inheritance of the saints in light.
13. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of His dear Son,
14. in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
15. He is the image of the invisible God and the firstborn of every creature.
16. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they are thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by Him and for Him.
17. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
18. He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in all things He may have the preeminence.