﻿Colossians.
Chapter 1.
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 
to the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who are in Colossae: grace to you and peace from God our Father. 
We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, always praying for you, 
since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love you have for all the saints, 
because of the hope reserved for you in the heavens. You heard of it before in the word of truth, the gospel 
that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world, so it is among you, from the day you heard and truly came to know the grace of God. 
You learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow slave, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 
and who also made known to us your love in the Spirit. 
For this reason, from the day we heard, we too have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 
so that you may walk worthily of the Lord, pleasing him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, 
being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 
giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 
He rescued us from the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, 
for in him all things were created in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things have been created through him and for him. 
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 
He is also the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself may have first place in everything. 
For God was pleased to have all the fullness dwell in him 
and through him to reconcile all things to himself, making peace through the blood of his cross—through him, whether things on earth or things in the heavens. 
And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works, 
have now been reconciled in his body of flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and beyond accusation before him, 
if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, not shifting away from the hope of the gospel you heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. 
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and in my flesh I fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of his body, which is the church. 
I became its minister according to the stewardship God gave me for you, to make the word of God fully known: 
the mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to his saints. 
To them God wished to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 
We proclaim him, admonishing everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 
For this I also labor, striving according to his working, which works powerfully in me. 
