1 aPaul, ban apostle of Jesus Christ cby the will of God, and dTimothy our brother, 2 To the asaints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: bGrace to you and peace from God our Father. 3 aWe give thanks to God, bthe Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 asince we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the blove which you have for call the saints; 5 because of the ahope blaid up for you in heaven, of which you previously cheard in the word of truth, the gospel 6 which has come to you, just as ain all the world also it is constantly bearing bfruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you cheard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; 7 just as you learned it from aEpaphras, our bbeloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 8 and he also informed us of your alove in the Spirit. 9 For this reason also, asince the day we heard of it, bwe have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the cknowledge of His will in all spiritual dwisdom and understanding, 10 so that you will awalk in a manner worthy of the Lord, bto please Him in all respects, cbearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 astrengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; bjoyously 12 giving thanks to athe Father, who has qualified us to share in bthe inheritance of the saints in cLight. 13 For He rescued us from the adomain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of bHis beloved Son, 14 ain whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the aimage of the binvisible God, the cfirstborn of all creation. 16 For aby Him all things were created, aboth in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether bthrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--call things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He ais before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 He is also ahead of bthe body, the church; and He is cthe beginning, dthe firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19 For it was athe Father's good pleasure for all bthe fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to areconcile all things to Himself, having made bpeace through cthe blood of His cross; through Him, I say, dwhether things on earth or things in heaven. 21 And although you were aformerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now areconciled you in His fleshly bbody through death, in order to cpresent you before Him dholy and blameless and beyond reproach-- 23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly aestablished and steadfast, and not moved away from the bhope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed cin all creation under heaven, dand of which I, Paul, was made a eminister. 24 aNow I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh bI do my share on behalf of cHis body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions. 25 aOf this church I was made a minister according to the bstewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, athe mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom aGod willed to make known what is bthe riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is cChrist in you, the dhope of glory. 28 We proclaim Him, aadmonishing every man and teaching every man with all bwisdom, so that we may cpresent every man dcomplete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I alabor, bstriving caccording to His power, which mightily works within me.